Wildfire roars through Colorado

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A wind-whipped wildfire sent flames roaring through a rugged canyon in the Colorado foothills, forcing 3000 people to flee and destroying dozens of homes - some that belonged to the firefighters themselves, authorities said.

Calmer winds were in the forecast and authorities planned to dump two to three times the amount of fire retardant from the air than they did Monday, when strong winds grounded air tankers for much of the day, Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr Rick Brough said.

The 1400ha wildfire broke out Monday morning in a canyon northwest of Boulder and spread rapidly. Brough said there was no indication it was intentionally set.

Fire officials said Tuesday that dozens of homes have been destroyed, but Brough had no details on exactly how many were lost.

Crews managed to save the historic town of Gold Hill, including an old West grocery store and structures once used for stagecoach stops. But firefighters in the area had to relocate their engines and equipment several times to avoid the flames.

Four homes belonging to firefighters were destroyed. Those firefighters were allowed to leave to attend to their families and personal affairs, said Laura McConnell, a spokeswoman for the fire management team.

The lack of information about the fire frustrated residents who gathered for a morning news briefing on the blaze.

There's no information about anything ... I am so frustrated," said Ronda Plywaski, who left her home Monday. "I just want to know if my house is OK."

On Monday, winds pushed the fire through three canyons where pine trees have been left prone to fire by disease, drought and beetles that burrow under the bark of pine trees, fire managers said. Such beetles have killed more than 1.4 million ha of trees in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming.

The evacuation was hampered by a failure of the county's alert system. Brough said the system was down for about two hours Monday, leaving authorities to rely on the media to get out word of the fire.

- AP