PUEBLO, Colo.—A wildfire burning southwest of Denver forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and destroyed more than 160 structures by Friday as erratic winds pushed the blaze across two Colorado counties.
The Aspen Acres fire is one of about 40 uncontained large blazes burning mostly in the West, fueled by months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter in some places.
Fire personnel were scooping water from the Pueblo Reservoir to fight the Aspen Acres fire, which had expanded to about 115 square miles (297 square kilometers) by Friday afternoon with zero containment.
All of Colorado City, an unincorporated community of about 2,200, was ordered evacuated as well as the towns of Beulah, Rye and San Isabel, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office….