DENVER – Officials say they’ve ordered more people to evacuate a western Colorado wildfire supposedly started by tracer rounds fired at a shooting range.
Authorities told an unknown number of residents of one neighborhood about 20 miles northwest of Aspen to flee early Thursday.
About 500 homes in other neighborhoods already were evacuated as the fire grew in erratic winds.
Before the latest evacuations, U.S. officials announced funding to fight the Lake Christine Fire and said it also threatened a large power grid and a primary water source.
Two people got tickets for using tracer ammunition that illuminates the path of fired bullets.
Another wildfire about 205 miles southwest of Denver has destroyed more than 100 homes and forced over 2,000 people to evacuate.
More than 60 blazes are burning across the Western U.S.
A growing Utah wildfire near a popular fishing reservoir has forced the closure of a highway.
High winds, heat and very dry conditions are fueling the fire near Strawberry Reservoir, about 80 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Officials say it has burned 66 square miles and destroyed about 30 structures.
The Utah Department of Transportation on Thursday said it has no estimated time for reopening U.S. Highway 40 between Duchesne and Wasatch counties.
Authorities earlier ordered evacuations for a campground and nearby subdivisions.
The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands reports the fire is burning largely out of control.
The agency believes people started it, but an exact cause hasn’t been determined.
