Colorado Springs Wildfire Grows To More Than 2,000 Acres (PHOTOS)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A wildfire near Colorado Springs has quickly grown to more than 2,000 acres and prompted thousands of residents to flee their homes, while another fire to the north claimed more than a dozen cabins and structures after sweeping through a Rocky Mountain neighborhood.

Hot, dry and gusty conditions are expected to continue into Sunday after fueling the two fires that erupted a day earlier. At least seven wildfires are now burning across Colorado, where officials have been challenged by one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent memory.

The larger of the two new fires Saturday was the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs, which flared up around noon. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported early Sunday that the 5,000 residents of Manitou Springs, just several miles west of Colorado Springs, were ordered to evacuate.

Evacuation orders also had been in place on the west side of Colorado Springs and in the towns of Cascade and Ute Pass.

In some neighborhoods, Colorado Springs police cruisers rolled down streets, issuing the order to leave through a loudspeaker.

“Colorado Springs Police Department,” an officer said. “This is a mandatory evacuation notice. Evacuate now.”

Hundreds of other residents were under voluntary evacuation orders and have been packing up, the newspaper reported.

The fire was zero percent contained, but no structures had been claimed by the fire, and homes in Colorado Springs or Manitou Springs were not immediately threatened, authorities said.

Fire officials in the two towns said the evacuations were in place as a precaution.

“We’re looking around 10, 11 o’clock in the morning. The temperatures are going to start going up, the humidity is going to start going down. That’s when fires can change their behavior dramatically,” said the Rev. David Hunting, the Manitou Springs fire department’s chaplain and public information officer.

Meanwhile, crews near the mountain community of Estes Park were mopping up after the Woodland Heights fire that also sparked Saturday destroyed 21 structures.

The Denver Post reports investigators are determining whether the fire started in a cabin before spreading or started as a wildfire before moving toward the homes.

The fire was attacked quickly by air and ground crews.

“Even though we lost 21 (structures), which is a huge tragedy, we saved many homes because of firefighters’ efforts,” the Post reported Estes Park Fire Chief Scott Dorman as telling evacuees.

Firefighters contending with the largest and most expensive fire in Colorado history gave up some ground before the weekend. Crews stationed near threatened homes Friday had to retreat for their safety, and containment slipped from 60 percent to 45 percent.

The fire near Fort Collins has scorched more than 118 square miles and destroyed at least 191 homes.

Heat that set back firefighting efforts Saturday are expected to continue Sunday, with the National Weather Service forecasting temperatures nearing 100 degrees throughout much of the state.

Elsewhere in the West, firefighters made progress against wildfires in Utah, New Mexico and California.

In Utah, about 2,300 Utah wildfire evacuees were allowed to return to their homes Saturday evening after officials determined the blaze no longer posed a threat to them.

The decision came after the fire had burned Friday within a quarter mile of some homes in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Teresa Rigby said.

The fire that officials believe was started Thursday by target shooters was 30 percent contained Saturday evening, with full containment expected Tuesday.

Crews also were battling a 16,500-acre brush fire on high desert near the town of Delta in central Utah.

In California, a wildfire that broke out about 60 miles north of Los Angeles has triggered evacuations of campgrounds around an off-road recreation area. The Ventura County Fire Department says the fire was reported shortly after noon Saturday near the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area. It has burned at least 400 acres. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Hungry Valley is located along the Interstate 5 corridor, in Gorman.

In New Mexico, a lightning-caused wildfire that destroyed 242 homes and businesses is 90 percent contained after crews got a break in the weather. Heavy rain Friday helped crews increase containment lines on the 69-square-mile fire near Ruidoso that began June 4.

Meanwhile, the more than 464-square-mile Whitewater-Baldy blaze, the largest in state history, is 87 percent contained. It began May 16 as two lightning-caused blazes that merged to form one fire.

LOOK at the multiple fires burning around the state:

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  • Stephanie Stover, with the City of Colorado Springs, directs traffic away after a mandatory evacuation was announced for the Garden of The Gods due to a wildfire burning west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire has grown to an estimated 600 acres and The Gazette reports authorities are evacuating the exclusive Cedar Heights neighborhood as well as the Garden of the Gods. (AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

  • Traffic moves as smoke billows from a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire has grown to an estimated 600 acres and The Gazette reports authorities are evacuating the exclusive Cedar Heights neighborhood as well as the Garden of the Gods nature center. (AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

  • Smoke billows from a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire has grown to an estimated 600 acres and The Gazette reports authorities are evacuating the exclusive Cedar Heights neighborhood as well as the Garden of the Gods nature center. (AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

  • Smoke billows from a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire has grown to an estimated 600 acres and The Gazette reports authorities are evacuating the exclusive Cedar Heights neighborhood as well as the Garden of the Gods nature center. (AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

  • People watch as smoke billows from a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire has grown to an estimated 600 acres and The Gazette reports authorities are evacuating the exclusive Cedar Heights neighborhood as well as the Garden of the Gods nature center. (AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

  • High Park Wildfire

  • High Park Wildfire

    The sun sets behind a plume of smoke from the High Park wildfire near Livermore , Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire is burning on more than 68,000 acres west of Fort Collins and has destroyed at least 189 homes (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

  • High Park Wildfire

    A slurry bomber drops retardant on the High Park wildfire after it crossed to the north side of Poudre Canyon and threatened homes in the Glacier View area near Livermore , Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire is burning on more than 68,000 acres west of Fort Collins and has destroyed at least 189 homes (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

  • High Park Wildfire

    Fire burns behind homes north of Poudre Canyon in the Glacier View area near Livermore, Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire is burning on more than 68,000 acres west of Fort Collins and has destroyed at least 189 homes (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

  • In a photo made on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, and made available on Wednesday by the Colorado National Guard, firefighters from the Monument, Colo., fire department march to dinner at sunset in a base camp near the High Park wildfire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, Colo.(AP Photo/Colorado National Guard, John Rohrer)

  • In this June 19, 2012 photo provided by the Colorado National Guard, an aircraft drops a load of fire retardant slurry above the High Park wildfire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, Colo. The ammonium phosphate dropped from airplanes to slow the spread of raging wildfires can turn a pristine mountain stream into a death zone for trout and some say the retardant has never been proven effective. (AP Photo/Colorado National Guard, John Rohrer)

  • Leadville fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150995380666749set=o.263743636076type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

  • Leadville fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150984157103076set=p.10150984157103076type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

  • Estes Park fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3749510029298set=p.3749510029298type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

  • Mancos fire. a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=140838636053743set=o.263743636076type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”Image via Facebook/a.

  • Mancos fire. Imagea href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2894645984892set=p.2894645984892type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink” via Facebook/a.

  • Waldo Fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4168552299248set=p.4168552299248type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

  • Waldo fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=410534478990030set=p.410534478990030type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

  • Pyramid fire. Image a href=”http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151039306431181set=p.10151039306431181type=1ref=nf” target=”_hplink”via Facebook/a.

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