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Wildfire nears Denver
©Associated Press DENVER -- A wind-driven wildfire closed in fast on Denver on Monday, and authorities said up to 40,000 people might be forced to leave their homes along the southwestern edge of the metropolitan area. The fire burning across more than 75,000 acres roared to within five miles of outlying residential neighborhoods, spreading toward Denver at about a mile an hour. As many as 3,700 buildings could be in the fire's northeasterly path. Firefighters were pulled off the lines in front of the fire because it was too dangerous. "They just cannot see the front of this fire because of the smoke," said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Barb Masinton. "We're on the list to be evacuated," said Ronda Dudeck, 33, sitting in a Sedalia cafe, 23 miles southwest of Denver, at lunch with her husband and four children. "I can't believe it has come to this," she added, breaking into tears. Outside, the Rocky Mountains were barely visible through a cloud of dark smoke that covered the sky, while white ash rained down on the pavement. The smoke and ash exposed the Denver area to high levels of air pollution over the weekend. The Forest Service closed the Pike-San Isabel National Forest for the first time in its history, and Colorado Gov. Bill Owens banned fireworks and open fires throughout the state. Throughout the day Monday, planes dumped fire retardant ahead of the fire line. And helicopters with water buckets tried to slow the fire's northeast march out of the Pike National Forest. Firefighters won't get much help from the weather over the next few days. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will be cooler -- with highs in the upper 60s to the lower 80s. But tinder-dry conditions are predicted for the next few days. Wind gusts Tuesday are expected to reach up to 35 mph near the fire. Nearly 500 homes and several campgrounds about 50 miles southwest of Denver were evacuated Sunday. It wasn't immediately clear how many people decided to leave their homes Monday. "It was our lifelong dream to live up here," said Carol Simone, who was forced to flee her home about 30 miles south of Denver. "It isn't about the house, it's the woods and the environment. If that's destroyed I'm going back to Florida." The fire was started by an illegal campfire Saturday in the Pike National Forest 55 miles southwest of Denver and had doubled in size since Sunday. Campfires have been banned in national forests and most counties because of severe drought. "There's nothing that can be done to stop this fire under current weather and fuel conditions," said Owens, who urged residents in the path of the fire to be prepared to leave if the order comes. On Sunday, after a helicopter tour, Owens said, "All of Colorado is burning." Not quite. But nearly 160 square miles burning in eight areas forced him to summon help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which promised that that federal government would assume three-quarters of the firefighting costs in Colorado. Owens said Joseph M. Allbaugh, the FEMA director, would arrive in Denver on Tuesday for a tour of the bigger fires. "In terms of largeness and complexity, I do not recall this many fires this complex this time of the year," said Mitt Parsons of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, which monitors wildfires throughout the region. "The conditions are so dry that it's frightening to think we've had this many and the season is only starting. We're facing a very, very tough situation." Warm, dry conditions typically fuel wildfires in the West but generally not so early in the year. Among the other fires burning in Colorado, two others were still proving stubborn. One is a blaze near Trinidad caused by lightning that has burned 23,000 acres and forced residents of 100 homes to evacuate, and the other is near Glenwood Springs. That one was caused by an burning underground coal seam and has consumed more than 15 square miles, destroying 40 buildings and forcing 3,000 people to evacuate. Frustrated residents near Glenwood Springs waited for permission to return to their homes. A few people were allowed back in to briefly check on their property; some brought out family portraits, bags of clothing and pets. Vickie Derby was relieved to find her home was spared. "We figured the walls would all be melted," Derby said. "My flowers even bloomed over the weekend. There's hope at the end of the tunnel." But other Western states are also suffering. At least seven fires are burning in California, the largest of which has consumed more than 36 square miles in the Angeles National Forest, forcing 1,000 people in Los Angeles County to be evacuated. By Monday, the authorities said it was 80 percent contained. To the west of that fire, in Ventura County, a blaze almost as large continued to thunder through the Los Padres National Forest north of Ojai after burning since June 1, but firefighters reported Monday that it was more than 50 percent contained. No homes were damaged and there were no evacuations. In Yuba County, about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, a 1,100-acre fire that had prompted the evacuation of about 150 homes early on Sunday was contained Monday, officials said. The blaze began when winds knocked down some power lines. Firefighters in New Mexico are battling a blaze northeast of Taos that has consumed more than 130 square miles, threatening several small towns, power lines, gas wells and several historic buildings. Only 10 percent of the fire was contained. -- Information from the New York Times and Knight Ridder was used in this report.
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