By JENNIFER HAMILTON
.c The Associated Press

DENVER (June 10) - A wind-whipped wildfire prompted authorities to order the evacuation of up to 40,000 people Monday from their homes along the southwestern edge of the Denver metropolitan area.

The 61,000-acre fire roared to within 10 miles of residential neighborhoods. Firefighters were pulled off the lines because it was too dangerous, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered from homes near Roxborough State Park, the U.S. Forest Service said.

The fire was started by an illegal campfire Saturday in Pike National Forest 55 miles southwest of Denver.

The fire was one of at least eight burning in Colorado, including an 8,300-acre blaze that destroyed 24 homes and sent residents fleeing in Glenwood Springs, near Storm King Mountain.

It was 5 percent contained Monday as airplanes resumed bombing the flames with retardant. The fire destroyed 40 structures, including 24 homes. About 3,000 residents were ordered to evacuate over the weekend.

No injuries were reported at Glenwood Springs, but firefighters there were especially cautious because of memories of the Storm King fire that killed 14 firefighters on similarly dry, steep terrain in 1994.

Southwest of Denver, the fire doubled in size overnight Sunday. Nearly 300 firefighters were on the lines, and more crews were ordered into place. Four bombers and four helicopters dropped fire retardant and water.

A shift in winds lifted the yellow haze that hung over the Denver on Sunday, said Christopher Dann, a spokesman for the region's Air Pollution Control Division.

Campfires have been banned in national forests and most counties because of severe drought.

AP-NY-06-10-02 1552EDT

Quoted:
No, actually I don't.

There are enough idiots around here who don't understand what "NO CAMPFIRES OR OPEN FLAMES" means without outsiders helping.

There is serious smoke and haze over Denver atm, blowing in from the south west, worse than our worst pollution days. It has been dry as a bone around here, with below average rain and winter snow pack for 4 years.

Last night, there were 30,000 acres consumed and today hasn't cooled off any.

There are alot of expensive homes in those areas and I expect damage to reach the hundreds of millions if not the billion dollar range.

Quoted:
it looks like the rabid environmentalist/forest service plan to end logging is working very well.

No service roads maintained by the logging companies to fight fires, no selective logging to reduce the extent of fire damage, no clearing of tinderbox underbrush by logging companies.

just unemployment, lost revenue and the added bonus of acres of burned timber and lost homes.  oh yeah, they have a plan....

Quoted:
I disagree with Legrue, I think thinning of the trees and increased logging would help in this case. Many of these areas have been buiding up tinder for decades.

Quoted:
So far 80,000 acres burnt. Could reach 100,000 by tonight

By JENNIFER HAMILTON
.c The Associated Press

DENVER (June 10) - A wind-driven wildfire closed in fast on Denver on Monday, and authorities said up to 40,000 people might have to be evacuated from their homes along the southwestern edge of the metropolitan area.

The 61,000-acre fire roared to within 10 miles of residential neighborhoods, spreading toward Denver at about a mile an hour.

Firefighters were pulled off the lines in front of the fire because it was too dangerous.

''They just cannot see the front of this fire because of the smoke,'' said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman said Barb Masinton.

Nearly 500 homes and several campgrounds about 50 miles southwest of Denver were evacuated on Sunday.

Masinton told The Associated Press that an additional 40,000 residents had been ordered evacuated. But U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Susan Haywood, who is Masinton's boss, later said Masinton misspoke. She said that it was possible 40,000 would have to be evacuated, but that no such order had been issued.

''It was our lifelong dream to live up here,'' said one of those evacuated, Carol Simone, whose home is about 30 miles south of Denver. ''It isn't about the house, it's the woods and the environment. If that's destroyed I'm going back to Florida.''

The fire was started by an illegal campfire Saturday in the Pike National Forest 55 miles southwest of Denver and had doubled in size since Sunday. Campfires have been banned in national forests and most counties because of severe drought.

Nearly 300 firefighters were on the lines and more crews were ordered into place. Four bombers and four helicopters dropped fire retardant and water.

It was one of at least eight fires in Colorado, including an 8,300-acre blaze that destroyed 24 homes and sent residents fleeing in Glenwood Springs, near Storm King Mountain in western Colorado.

The fire near Glenwood Springs was 5 percent contained Monday as improved weather allowed airplanes to resume bombing the flames with retardant. The fire destroyed 40 structures, including 24 homes. About 3,000 residents were ordered to evacuate during the weekend.

Authorities said a few residents might be allowed to return to pick up urgently needed items such as medicine.

No injuries were reported at Glenwood Springs, but firefighters there were especially cautious because of memories of the Storm King fire that killed 14 firefighters on similarly dry, steep terrain in 1994.