Colorado fires reach top tourist attractions
Source: Agencies |
June 26, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FLAMES forced thousands of Colorado residents from their homes over the weekend and disrupted vacation plans for countless visitors as smoke shrouded some of the American state's top tourist destinations, including majestic Pike's Peak and tranquil Estes Park.
Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade, with more than a half dozen forest fires burning across the state's parched terrain. Some hotels and campgrounds are emptying ahead of the busy Fourth of July holiday.
One of the newest fires, a blaze near Colorado Springs, grew to more than 16 square kilometers on Sunday after erupting just a day earlier and prompting evacuation orders for 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists.
The fire sent plumes of gray and white smoke over the area that obscured at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the United States and inspiration for the song "America The Beautiful."
Winds had started to push smoke away from Colorado Springs and evacuations orders were lifted for the 5,000 residents of nearby Manitou Springs, but area residents and tourists still watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.
Even while other large fires burn across the West, Colorado's blazes have demanded half the nation's firefighting fleet, according to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. He said C-130 military transport planes from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs were to begin assisting yesterday.
While no homes were reported damaged in the Colorado Springs-area fire, a forest fire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed structures near the mountain community of Estes Park.
Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade, with more than a half dozen forest fires burning across the state's parched terrain. Some hotels and campgrounds are emptying ahead of the busy Fourth of July holiday.
One of the newest fires, a blaze near Colorado Springs, grew to more than 16 square kilometers on Sunday after erupting just a day earlier and prompting evacuation orders for 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists.
The fire sent plumes of gray and white smoke over the area that obscured at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the United States and inspiration for the song "America The Beautiful."
Winds had started to push smoke away from Colorado Springs and evacuations orders were lifted for the 5,000 residents of nearby Manitou Springs, but area residents and tourists still watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.
Even while other large fires burn across the West, Colorado's blazes have demanded half the nation's firefighting fleet, according to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. He said C-130 military transport planes from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs were to begin assisting yesterday.
While no homes were reported damaged in the Colorado Springs-area fire, a forest fire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed structures near the mountain community of Estes Park.
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