COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A major wildfire in Colorado that claimed the lives of two people and forced thousands to evacuate their homes remained largely uncontained Friday, but officials said they were optimistic after a night in which they lost no additional houses or acreage to the flames.
“It was the kind of turning point we’ve been looking for,” El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said at a news conference held outdoors under skies that a day earlier had been smudged by smoke from the Black Forest fire near Colorado Springs.
Friday, only clouds darkened the sky. That and the lack of wind were good news for firefighters, officials said.
The Black Forest fire already ranks as one of the most damaging in state history. It grew dramatically late Wednesday evening and Thursday, fanned by winds with gusts of up to 35 miles per hour, officials said.
The fire has destroyed about 360 homes, more than any previous blaze in the state. That includes last year’s Waldo Canyon fire, which destroyed 346 homes near Colorado Springs, a city of about 426,000 residents, the state’s second-largest after Denver.
Mr. Maketa said a criminal investigation would be launched into the fire’s cause in light of the fatalities. The victims weren’t identified.
Only 5% of the fire had been contained Friday, officials said, and the weather could again turn against their efforts. But they were also was upbeat.
“The corner’s a long way away,” said Rich Harvey, a federal fire official. “But we’re certainly moving toward turning the corner.”
Some 38,000 that were forced to evacuate by authorities from a roughly 64-square-mile area mainly north of Colorado Springs haven’t been allowed to return to their homes.
By Thursday afternoon, a golf-club community on the north end of Colorado Springs was part of the growing mandatory-evacuation zone.
Residents within that zone face “immediate danger,” the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday via Twitter. “Load your family and pets and GO NOW,” the office said.
Among those forced to evacuate was Craig McHugh, who fled his farm in the northeast corner of the Black Forest on Wednesday with his wife, son and daughter and spent the night at a friend’s home in Colorado Springs.
Mr. McHugh said it had been agonizing watching the news, hoping for information about his home, crops and animals—so when he briefly returned Thursday morning to water his 200 chickens and nine pigs, he set up a web camera that the family is now monitoring. Their home so far remains untouched by the fire, he said.
“It was just a huge relief for all of us to know, hey, we made it through the night,” he said. But “I think we have another day or two of totally unpredictable weather.”
At least two other, smaller fires were burning in Colorado on Thursday, consuming a further 3,500 acres of land in total.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has declared disaster emergencies for the Black Forest fire and the two other blazes. The move authorizes more than $10 million to help pay for firefighting and other costs.
Write to Nathan Koppel at [email protected] and Ana Campoy at [email protected]
“It was the kind of turning point we’ve been looking for,” El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said at a news conference held outdoors under skies that a day earlier had been smudged by smoke from the Black Forest fire near Colorado Springs.
Friday, only clouds darkened the sky. That and the lack of wind were good news for firefighters, officials said.
The Black Forest fire already ranks as one of the most damaging in state history. It grew dramatically late Wednesday evening and Thursday, fanned by winds with gusts of up to 35 miles per hour, officials said.
The fire has destroyed about 360 homes, more than any previous blaze in the state. That includes last year’s Waldo Canyon fire, which destroyed 346 homes near Colorado Springs, a city of about 426,000 residents, the state’s second-largest after Denver.
Mr. Maketa said a criminal investigation would be launched into the fire’s cause in light of the fatalities. The victims weren’t identified.
Only 5% of the fire had been contained Friday, officials said, and the weather could again turn against their efforts. But they were also was upbeat.
“The corner’s a long way away,” said Rich Harvey, a federal fire official. “But we’re certainly moving toward turning the corner.”
Some 38,000 that were forced to evacuate by authorities from a roughly 64-square-mile area mainly north of Colorado Springs haven’t been allowed to return to their homes.
By Thursday afternoon, a golf-club community on the north end of Colorado Springs was part of the growing mandatory-evacuation zone.
Residents within that zone face “immediate danger,” the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday via Twitter. “Load your family and pets and GO NOW,” the office said.
Among those forced to evacuate was Craig McHugh, who fled his farm in the northeast corner of the Black Forest on Wednesday with his wife, son and daughter and spent the night at a friend’s home in Colorado Springs.
Mr. McHugh said it had been agonizing watching the news, hoping for information about his home, crops and animals—so when he briefly returned Thursday morning to water his 200 chickens and nine pigs, he set up a web camera that the family is now monitoring. Their home so far remains untouched by the fire, he said.
“It was just a huge relief for all of us to know, hey, we made it through the night,” he said. But “I think we have another day or two of totally unpredictable weather.”
At least two other, smaller fires were burning in Colorado on Thursday, consuming a further 3,500 acres of land in total.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has declared disaster emergencies for the Black Forest fire and the two other blazes. The move authorizes more than $10 million to help pay for firefighting and other costs.
Write to Nathan Koppel at [email protected] and Ana Campoy at [email protected]