The rural Elbert County, about 25 miles southeast of Denver suffered the onslaught of a fast-spreading 800-acre wildfire, forcing authorities to evacuate around 50 homes today. The wildfire, which is believed to be doubling in size every two hours, singed the rolling grasslands and ponderosa groves, even as eleven fire departments from two counties armed with two air tankers battled it.
The fires that have been caused largely by soaring temperatures and lightning, have posed a danger not only for the living but also for the rich historical remnants preserved in Colorado’s Indian reservations.
Firefighters battled relentless heat besides the quickly growing fires, even as Denver touched on Wednesday the record temperature of 105 F earlier seen in 1878, on the second straight day of triple-digit temperatures far above the normal highs of near 90 degrees. Bill Frangis, Sheriff of Elbert County, an area that is characterized by 35 to 60-acre lots with homes dotting them, said his men were going door-to-door warning residents to leave.
However, he could not say conclusively as to how many people were actually evacuated. Jen Chase, the fire information officer said that the probability of a fire igniting from any lightning strike was 100 percent as trees were so dry in that corner of the Colorado state. While the fire department was doing everything in its power to contain the fire, one firefighter suffered a heat-related injury and a horse was singed.
In Norwood, in southwestern Colorado, lightning-ignited wildfires grew from 500 to 580 acres but were 75 percent contained after over 160 firefighters and four helicopter well called into service. Elsewhere in southwestern Colorado the soaring temperatures caused two blazes near Mesa Verde National Park and with gusty winds making fighters brace for fresh outbreaks.
In the Ute Mountain Indian reservation, a 193 acre lightning-ignited fire was 40 percent contained while a second blaze covering 2,318 acres was 75 percent contained. Crews, using what was called a "light on the land" tactic, dropped retardant from the air to avoid damaging the ancient artifacts on the reservation with bulldozers.
The treasures on the Ute Mountain reservation rival those at Mesa Verde, and include cliff dwellings dating back several 100 years besides petroglyphs, stone tools, pottery and other artifacts While a battalion of 408 firefighters and three helicopters fought the two fires, archaeologists remained nearby to help preserve the precious bits of history that the reservations held.
Colorado State was also home to four other fires that razed over 4,400 acres but were considered "ecological restoration" fires benefiting the environment.
Fires were reported across United States, with two major reports coming from Arizona and Northern California where the 22,500-acre and 10,000-acre fires respectively were contained early without causing major damage. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 36 large fires across Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming were active, bringing the total land razed this year to nearly 3.9 million acres against 4.4 million acres reported at this time last year. Meanwhile, fire-fighters working over time around this time of the year, only can look for a brief spell of rain to give them some relief from the soaring temperatures and reduce the impact of the fires.
