Three people, including a slurry pilot, were killed and an entire town was evacuated Tuesday as dry conditions and high winds fueled large wildfires across Colorado.
The Crowley County Sheriff’s Department confirmed late Tuesday that two people had died in a 7,100-acre fire near Ordway. The sheriff’s office could not confirm a report by KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs that the two people killed were firefighters.
At least 20 buildings burned in and around Ordway, and more than 1,100 people were evacuated.
A private contractor working for the U.S. Forest Service crashed a single-engine air-tanker while fighting a 1,000-acre fire at Fort Carson in El Paso County. The pilot was killed, but authorities have not released his identity.
A third large wind-fed wildfire near Carbondale forced the evacuation of a subdivision and shut down Colorado 82 for much of the day.
All three fires were still burning late Tuesday.
Ordway
Firefighters from 14 agencies raced to Ord way as the flames reached the town’s limits Tuesday afternoon. By nightfall, the fast-burning fire had burned at least 10 square miles of grassland.
Susan Pieper, the editor of the Ordway New Era newspaper, said officials think a controlled burn in the area got out of hand — “way out of hand.”
Soot and embers filled the outside air, she said from her cellphone at the Crowley County Sheriff’s Office.
Colorado 96 was closed between Crowley and Ordway after the fire burned a bridge. Colorado 71 also was closed.
The Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, 6 miles east of Ordway, was put on modified lockdown as some staff members went to be with their families, said Katherine Sanguinetti, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
There is no indication when the mandatory evacuation order for all Ordway’s residents would be lifted, acting public information spokesman Chris Sorensen said.
Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency, freeing up state resources to help fight the Ordway fire.
Ordway is about 45 miles east of Pueblo and about 122 miles southeast of Denver.
Fort Carson
Fort Carson spokeswoman Dee McNutt said the 1,000-acre fire broke out in the Juniper Valley area along Colorado 115, the main road from Colorado Springs to Cañon City.
No buildings are believed to be threatened and no injuries have been reported, but Fort Carson evacuated personnel and horses from the Turkey Creek area, and residents who live south of Barrett Road were notified that they could be asked to evacuate.
The plume of smoke from the fire was visible from downtown Colorado Springs.
Tuesday afternoon, McNutt said air tankers and helicopters had been unable to go aloft with fire retardant because of high winds. But the contract tanker crashed about 6:35 p.m. after dumping its slurry load.
Thirty Colorado counties, including most of the Front Range east to Kansas, were under red-flag wildfire warnings Tuesday. The severe threat warning came from the mix of high winds, hot temperatures and dry limbs and grass.
Carbondale
Near Carbondale in Garfield County, a 300-acre brush fire forced the evacuation of a residential subdivision and a private school and closed Colorado 82 for much of the day.
One man was transported to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs after being injured while fishing in the area. He was treated and released.
Up to four homes caught fire but were saved by firefighters; none was destroyed.
About 7 p.m., Colorado 82 was reopened with one lane in each direction, and later in the evening some residents were allowed to return home.
Two other brush fires in Garfield County were contained by 7 p.m., according to Sara Cross, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, which was assisting with media calls.
The American Red Cross has evacuation shelters at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale and at the El Jebel Community Center. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
