A massive wildfire threatened a tourist town in Colorado’s southwestern mountains on Friday, forcing its roughly 400 residents to flee ahead of the fast-burning blaze fueled by hot, windy weather.
Wildland firefighters teamed up with local firefighters to try to protect South Fork, which is surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest. State authorities said the 47-square-mile fire is about seven miles southwest of town and has been advancing at a rate of about a mile an hour. Thick smoke was limiting visibility.
Fire spokeswoman Penny Bertram wouldn’t speculate on the likelihood of the town burning. There’s a high probability of the fire reaching the town if the fire continues to behave as it has, though crews were staging resources to protect its buildings, she said.
“They’re hedging their bets,” Bertram said.
Over 30 fire engines have been stationed near the town to protect it. An air tanker was also able to drop slurry ahead of the fire to try to slow its growth and giving firefighters a chance to dig a fire break, Bertram said.
Bertram and state authorities said the fire was several miles away from town by mid-afternoon but headed in its direction.
The town is a popular spot for hiking and camping. The fictional Griswold family camped in South Fork in 1983’s “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” The famous scene where a dog urinates on a picnic basket was filmed at South Fork’s Riverbend Resort, called “Kamp Komfort” in the movie.
Residents were being sent to a high school in a neighboring town.
South Fork’s mayor, Kenneth Brooke, sent his children and grandchildren to a safe location and stayed behind, helping several dozen area fire responders prepare for hosing down structures.
Brooke said authorities are allowing him to stay in South Fork until the blaze crests a nearby mountain, expected Friday afternoon. Until then, the mayor was taking phone calls from nervous neighbors and telling them the town’s grim forecast.
“I just tell them it doesn’t look good,” Brooke said Friday. “I tell them the truth, that the fire is coming. I just tell them to keep themselves safe, evacuate as need be and don’t come back.
“We’re just watching the fire and doing what we can for people’s properties, but mostly it’s just waiting. Right now I’m saying, ‘Stay out.’”
Bertram said the hot, dry and windy weather along with large stands of beetle-killed trees are causing extreme fire behavior. While most fires actively burn four hours a day, this one is burning for 12 hours a day, helping it to mushroom in recent days.
Firefighters have largely let the lightning-sparked fire burn because it’s too hot and erratic to fight on the ground. Water and slurry drops from air tankers also haven’t been effective, with pilots reporting that their drops largely evaporated before hitting the ground.
“There’s no stopping it,” Bertram said.
The town was incorporated in 1992, making it Colorado’s youngest municipality. The town lost 11 structures in the 2002 Million Fire, which charred more than 14 square miles.
South Fork residents are used to damaging wildfires, but this year’s is shaping up to be the worst, Brooke said.
“Our tourists are what support the town. The fires are going to run everybody away. So that’s going to hurt,” he said.
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