Colorado Wildfire Scorches 5,000 Acres, Prompts Evacuation Orders

FORT COLLINS, Colo. ? Crews are battling a wildfire in northern Colorado that has scorched 5,000 acres and prompted several dozen evacuation orders.

Larimer County Sheriff's spokesman John Schulz says the fire was reported just before 6 a.m. Saturday in the Paradise Park area. He says at least 46 structures and likely many more have been evacuated, and an evacuation center has been set up at a middle school in Laporte.

Ten structures have been damaged, although authorities were unsure if they were homes or some other kind of buildings.

A sheriff's statement says two heavy air tankers, five single-engine air tankers and four helicopters are on the scene.

The fire appears to be burning on private and U.S. Forest Service land.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Crews are battling a fast-moving wildfire in northern Colorado that has scorched about 5,000 acres and prompted several dozen evacuation orders.

Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokesman John Schulz said the fire was reported just before 6 a.m. Saturday in the mountainous Paradise Park area about 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins. He said at least 46 structures and likely many more have been evacuated, and an evacuation center has been set up at a Laporte middle school.

Ten structures have been damaged, although authorities were unsure if they were homes or some other kind of buildings. No injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire wasn't known.

Aerial footage from Denver-based KMGH-TV showed flames coming dangerously close to what appeared to be several outbuildings and at least one home in the area, as well as consuming trees and sending a large plume of smoke into the air.

"Right now we're just trying to get these evacuations done and get people safe," Schulz told the station, adding that "given the extreme heat in the area, it makes it a difficult time for (the firefighters)." Temperatures near Fort Collins reached the mid-80s Saturday afternoon with a humidity level of between 5 percent and 10 percent.

Two heavy air tankers, a single-engine air tanker and three helicopters are on the scene to help fight the blaze, which appears to be burning on private and U.S. Forest Service land and is being fueled by sustained winds of between 20 and 25 mph.

"It was just good conditions to grow," National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Gimmestad told The Associated Press. "The conditions today were really favorable for it to take off."

He said firefighters should benefit from cooler weather this evening, but the cold front also is expected to bring wind gusts as high as 40 mph.

"It's a trade off," he said. "The biggest thing might be that it will be pushing (the fire) in a different direction and the way this is playing out, it might be in the direction of homes."

Also Saturday, KMGH () reported a grass fire destroyed at least four outbuildings near Interstate 25 and Colorado 7 in Erie. Images from the station's helicopter showed at least one car engulfed in flames. http://bit.ly/LIFQzA

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