A trio of wildfires near Colorado Springs, Colorado now cover a 12-square mile area, leading to the evacuation of 1,000 medium-security prison inmates, 7,000 residents and the destruction at least 92 homes. These are the latest in a series of devastating wildfires in the west, including Oregon, California, and New Mexico, fueled by heat, winds, and dry conditions.
The fires are so bad that the U.S. Forest Service will be utilizing Defense Department cargo planes to release semiliquid chemical slurry, possibly in all 4 states, to stop them. The three Colorado fires are in the same area as last summer’s Waco Canyon fire, illustrated by the map below, which killed 2 and destroyed 346 homes. Smoke and ash have drifted north to Denver, where haze covers the sun, the AP.com reports.
Currently, NBCNews.com says that the Colorado fires are 0% contained, and authorities fear that anyone who didn’t obey evacuation orders has been killed. None are yet reported missing, but the fires have consumed everything in their path. Their cause or causes are unknown.
Meanwhile, the fire in eastern Oregon, which began with a lightning strike, covers about 23 square miles of grassland and is growing. The wildfire in southern California has covered approximately 4 ½ square miles of forest and is 30% contained, but also growing. The New Mexico wildfire closed a portion of a state highway, covering 33 square miles of forest and 40% contained.