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Junkins Fire west of Pueblo burns thousands of acres in hours

The Junkins Fire, as seen from just east of Wetmore in Custer County at 7:55 a.m. Monday. A wildfire was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday west of Pueblo. It was pushed by strong winds and has destroyed one home and three other structures.

WESTCLIFFE – A wind-driven wildfire in southern Colorado destroyed one house Monday and forced residents to flee 130 homes, authorities said.

Four structures have been lost and 11,500 acres of forest and private land burned after the Junkins Fire.

The fire was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday some 25 miles west-southwest of Pueblo, the Custer County Emergency Management Office said.

It had grown to 21 square miles by Monday evening, said El Paso County sheriff’s spokeswoman Gail Perez. High wind gusts grounded water-dropping aircraft, she said. The cause was unknown.

“The wind has been strong to the east at 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 70 miles an hour and it spread 10 miles in less that eight hours – so that is extremely quick. The winds are not prevailing in any one direction so it is starting to push back to the south,” said Custer County Sheriff Shannon Byerly.

“We are trying to protect people and life,” Byerly said, adding that no injuries have been reported. “We have confirmed four structures lost – one home and three other structures were lost on the Junkins Park Loop near where we believe the origin of the fire was.”

Although there are several homes in that area where the structures were lost, the fire crews “really tried hard to protect those structures,” Byerly said.

“We did find a downed power line but can’t confirm that is the cause yet,” Byerly said

People in the small town of Beulah, which was evacuated by another wildfire earlier this month, were told to be ready to leave.

Firefighters from throughout the state headed to the blaze to assist crews from Custer and Pueblo counties. About 80 personnel were on the scene, and three air tankers were deployed.

The fire sent up large plumes of smoke, which led to a health advisory for people living as far east as Pueblo.

A stretch of dry, warm weather has raised the fire danger in much of Colorado, especially on windy days.

The fire that evacuated Beulah is believed to have been started by a state-operated excavator working in a ditch, possibly by creating a spark.

To the north, firefighters contained more than 50 percent of a 14-acre wildfire in Pike National Forest about 10 miles northwest of Colorado Springs. No structures were damaged.

Oscar Martinez, a district ranger with the U.S. Forest Service, said he hoped crews could fully contain the fire on Tuesday.

The fire was reported Monday afternoon near Rampart Reservoir. Its cause was unknown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Durango Fire crews to battle blaze

The Durango Fire Protection District plans to send a four-person crew and a truck to assist with the Junkins Fire in Custer and Pueblo counties.

The four-person crew consists of Scott Nielsen, Dan Dosch, Kenyon Shephard and Reid Francis.

They expect to leave Monday afternoon in a Type 3 wildland truck, which includes a pumper, water tank, foam and other firefighting supplies, said Scott Davis, with DFPD.

The fire department mobilized the crew in response to a state request for available resources to assist in fighting the fast-moving blaze.

The U.S. Forest Service on Monday canceled a prescribed burn in the Doe Canyon area east of Dove Creek, and plans instead to send San Juan National Forest firefighters to the Front Range to assist with wildfires.



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