By Ivan Moreno
The Associated Press
CROWLEY, Colo. — Strong winds threatened to blow a wildfire into a small southeastern Colorado town Tuesday, and authorities ordered all of its 1,100 residents to leave. Two other wildfires were burning in the state.
The size of the fire near Ordway wasn’t known nor how close to town it had burned. Two air tankers were dispatched to fight the fire and two state highways were closed to the town, 120 miles southeast of Denver.
Much of the state was under a National Weather Service red flag warning Tuesday, signifying high fire danger.
On the southeastern plains around Ordway, winds were gusting to 50 mph, humidity was low and temperatures reached into the 80s. Dry conditions on the plains and in some mountain valleys contrasted with deep snow at higher elevations.
No injuries or damage had been reported from the Ordway fire, and the cause wasn’t yet known. The threat that the winds could blow the fire into the town prompted the evacuations.
“It could be a few miles away still, but you’re going to take every precaution you can when it comes to public safety,” said Polly White, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.
A wildfire near Carbondale, in the mountains about 120 miles west of Denver, blackened about 1,000 acres and injured one resident. The nature of the injury wasn’t known.
Authorities had said they were preparing to evacuate a subdivision with an unknown number of homes. Red Cross spokeswoman B.J. Coyle said the agency had been told to prepare for up to 1,000 evacuees from the Carbondale fire.
A third wildfire had burned more than 1,000 acres on Fort Carson near Colorado Springs.
The Army said that wildfire had forced some evacuations, but the number of people affected wasn’t known.