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DENVER – An erratic wildfire that traverses an extremely dry area in a community near the ski town of Aspen, Colorado, destroys three houses and forces people to flee in the middle of the night, say authorities Thursday
. One of the more than 60 large fires burning across the United States, mainly in parts of the west hit by drought where whiplash winds and increasing heat have facilitated the spread of flames. The fires exploded across the southwestern lands, hit by a severe drought and in a northern California region of deadly forest fires last year.
While people in the rest of the country were watching fireworks The city of Basalt Colorado late at night to watch pockets of fire dancing on a hill. Just an hour after authorities said the fire had stabilized, a neighborhood was ordered to flee early Thursday.
Residents evacuated more than 500 homes, including multi-million dollar properties, mobile homes and condos. where affordable housing is scarce.
The smoke of the fire temporarily stopped the flights to Aspen Airport, about 32 kilometers away. The authorities believe that the flames started after the shooters used tracer bullets that illuminate the path of fired bullets.
Another Colorado wildfire about 330 kilometers southwest of Denver destroyed more than 130 homes. people in three counties to evacuate.
While much of the West is struggling with heat, parts of Colorado were waiting for rain. But forecasters have warned that it could be heavy enough to trigger floods in areas left bare by forest fires.
The cooler weather in northern California helped crews gain water. square kilometers), said the California Department of Forests and Fire Protection. The fire northwest of Sacramento resulted in forced evacuations, but no building burned.
In northern New Mexico, a forest fire closed a ranch where novelist D. H. Lawrence sought spiritual renewal. Authorities said that a fire in the Carson National Forest has burned nearly 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) since June 24 and that it's only partially restrained.
Forest restrictions imposed last week closed the DH Lawrence Ranch of the University of New Mexico. He hosted the writer during the summers of 1924 and 1925 as well as the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, the author Willa Cather and the artist Georgia O 'Keeffe after the death of Lawrence in 1930.
In Utah, temperatures and winds quickly shook vegetation near a popular fishing lake about two hours southeast of Salt Lake City. The 66-square-kilometer fire near the Strawberry Reservoir destroyed about 30 structures
Temperatures are expected to rise to nearly 100 degrees Thursday and a storm could bring erratic winds, said Donald Jaques, a spokesman for the fire .
"We have conditions conducive to the extreme behavior of fire," he said. "We are at a historic level of drought for this vegetation."
Darren Lewis's family is on their way to the fire and he fears that the 46-year-old A-shaped structure built by his uncle and father burned .
Lewis, 44, and his extended family were planning to spend the day of July 4th at the property in a narrow canyon near a river, but they were nervously watching social media looking for updates from Magna.
The cabin is part of more than 200 evacuated homes in the mountain area, and the family has not been able to return since Monday, he said. It is a frequent place of family reunion and has special sentimental value because his father and his uncle died last year.
"It's our place of healing," said Lewis Contreras in Washington DC. Brady McCombs of Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
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