Fire forces hundreds of evacuations near Colorado ski resort

Eight Forest Service firefighters parachuted in, and two heavy tankers and a helicopter dropped slurry and water on the fire throughout the day.

The fire has not burned any structures and died down as temperatures cooled Wednesday night. Evacuation orders were expected to remain in place until midday Thursday.

The fire was among several dotting the West on Wednesday, including one that was burning near a nuclear facility in Washington state.

That grass and brush fire, which started Sunday and was burning in part on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, is 85 per cent contained and is not threatening any of the site’s nuclear facilities. It has burned about 36 square miles (93.2 sq. kilometres) in Yakima and Benton counties.

In northern Nevada on Wednesday, fire officials advised residents to leave their homes with their animals ahead of one of several blazes sweeping across the hot, dry rangeland.

Palomino Valley residents were urged to relocate to an equestrian events centre in Reno, Truckee Meadows fire spokeswoman Erin Holland said, adding that 100 animals were sheltered.

The advisory followed a National Weather Service warning for high fire danger in western Nevada and in California’s Alpine and Mono counties.

Earlier, firefighters battled flames that neared about a dozen homes late Tuesday and early Wednesday near Palomino Valley but burned only one shed, Truckee Meadows Fire Chief Charles Moore said.

“We’re stretched thin because we have so many fires going on all at once,” he said. “Wildfire is a natural disaster that happens with regularity. You can almost bank on it happening every summer.”

In Arizona, the summer-retreat community of Summerhaven atop Mount Lemmon remained evacuated after a wildfire charred more than 36 square miles (93.2 sq. kilometres) in mountains and foothills overlooking Tucson. The wildfire started Friday, and its cause remains under investigation.

Meanwhile in southeast Wyoming, a wildfire forced the evacuation of a campground and 25 cabins in the area of Keystone about 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of the Colorado line.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Fire forces hundreds of evacuations near Colorado ski resort

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