Colorado Springs Fire

Colorado Springs Fire, 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. (Fox News)