|
Authorities are ramping up the fight against large wildfiresburning out of control in northern Colorado and southern NewMexico. Ten air tankers, half of them large aircraft, were at a fireburning on nearly 155 square kilometres in a mountainous area 24kilometres west of Fort Collins on Monday. One person is missing inthe fire. Wildfires have spread quickly in parched forests in the two states,forcing hundreds of people from their homes and the evacuation ofwolves from a sanctuary. The Colorado fire on Sunday grew to 57 square kilometres withinabout a day of being reported, and has destroyed or damaged 18structures. Strong winds, meanwhile, grounded aircraft fighting a104-square-kilometre wildfire near the mountain community ofRuidoso in southern New Mexico. Crews were still working to build afire line around the fire, which started Friday and has damaged ordestroyed 36 structures. It wasn't immediately clear how many of the structures lost werehomes. In Colorado, the fire sent up heavy smoke, obscuring the sun andcreating an eerie, orange dusk in the middle of the day. The smellof smoke drifted into the Denver area and smoke from the firesspread as far away as parts of central Nebraska, western Kansas andTexas. Communities evacuated The latest New Mexico fire is smaller than the Whitewater-Baldyfire the largest in the state's history but it's moreconcerning to authorities because it started closer to homes, saidDan Ware, a spokesman for the New Mexico State Forestry Division.He said the number of Ruidoso evacuees was in the hundreds, but hedidn't have an exact figure. Karen Takai, a spokeswoman for crews battling the Ruidoso fire,said smoke is heavily impacting the community of Capitan, abouteight kilometres northeast of the fire. She said in addition to thecommunities that have been evacuated, Capitan and others could faceevacuation. A giant smoke plume rises above the flames Saturday as the firecrests a hillside south of the Cache La Poudre River at theintersection of Larimer County Road 27 and Colorado Highway 14,west of Fort Collins. (Karl Gehring/Denver Post/Associated Press) Elsewhere Sunday, firefighters were battling a wildfire thatblackened 15.5 square kilometres in Wyoming's Guernsey State Parkand forced the evacuation of campers and visitors. Cooler weatherwas helping firefighters in their battle against two otherwildfires in southern Utah. In Colorado, authorities sent nearly 1,800 evacuation notices tophone numbers but it wasn't immediately clear how many residentshad to leave. About 500 people had checked in at Red Crossshelters. Larimer County sheriff Justin Smith said. He said therewas an unconfirmed report of a person unaccounted for, but hewouldn't elaborate. Authorities say it's the worst fire seen in Larimer County in about25 years. It spread as fast as 2.4 km/h Saturday, skipping andjumping over some areas but burning intensely in trees in others.Flames were coming dangerously close to deputies who were tellingsome residents to evacuate, Smith said. Kathie Walter and her husband helped friends several kilometresaway evacuate from the Colorado fire on Saturday. When they gothome, they were surprised to get a call warning them to be ready toevacuate just in case. But Walter didn't want to wait. "Smoke was coming in hard. We could not see flames or orange orblack smoke. But we didn't need to see anymore. We just said 'Hey,let's get out of here,"' she said. They evacuated with their five cats and two dogs. They had a headstart. After a wildfire in the area last year, they had left twosuitcases packed in their garage. The blaze also forced the evacuation of 11 wolves from a sanctuarynear the fire. KUSA-TV in Denver reported that 19 wolves remainedbehind at the sanctuary, which has underground concrete bunkersknown as "fire dens" that can be used by the animals. March fire killed 3 The fire is the latest to hit Colorado's drought-stricken FrontRange. In March, the Lower North Fork Fire, 40 kilometres southwestof Denver, killed three people and damaged or destroyed more thantwo dozen homes. Eight air tankers and several helicopters were on the scene to helpfight the blaze. The speed at which the fire has spread has dashed any hopes ofcontainment for the time being. "These folks are doing everything they can, but Mother Nature isrunning this fire," Smith, the sheriff, said. In New Mexico, the mix of timber, dry grass and the steepness ofthe slopes were making the firefighting efforts more difficult. The fire was burning in steep, rocky, inaccessible terrain in theWhite Mountain Wilderness of the Lincoln National Forest, which ishome to Smokey Bear, who became the nation's symbol of fireprevention in the 1940s. More than 300 firefighters were battling the blaze with help fromthree large air tankers, three heavy helicopters and threeBlackhawk helicopters. There were also 100 National Guard troops inRuidoso. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Kids Gardening Gloves , Industrial Safety Gloves Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Industrial Safety Hand Gloves.
Related Articles -
Kids Gardening Gloves, Industrial Safety Gloves Manufacturer,
|
