Sunday, June 24, 2012

Vicious wildfires spread to Colo. tourist centers

(AP) ? Wildfires moved in on some of Colorado's most popular summer tourist destinations over the weekend, destroying nearly two dozen homes near Rocky Mountain National Park and emptying hotels and campgrounds at the base of Pikes Peak. A wildfire near Colorado Springs erupted Saturday and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. Families planning whitewater rafting trips or visits to the stunning red-rock formations in Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs were instead spending their vacations passing out bottled water and setting up cots in evacuee centers. With eight wildfires burning ? including a two week-old fire that has scorched more than 118 square miles and destroyed 248 homes near Fort Collins ? Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade. Authorities had previously said that 191 homes were burned in that fire, but The Denver Post (http://bit.ly/NqoAkp) reported Sunday that fire officials told residents of the Glacier View subdivision that at least 57 more homes in their neighborhood have been lost. "People recognize this is going to take a big push" to extinguish, Hickenlooper said Sunday from a Colorado Springs grocery store, where volunteers were passing out burritos, sandwiches and drinks to 350 firefighters working near Pikes Peak. ? In Utah, a 15-square-mile blaze around Fountain Green in Sanpete County was threatening more than 359 permanent structures and 213 mobile homes and travel trailers in four rural subdivisions, forcing about 1,000 people to flee. Officials said the fire has blackened at least 1,000 acres in the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, along the Interstate 5 corridor in Gorman.

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