A wildfire erupted Tuesday morning near a Colorado town known as a gateway into Rocky Mountain National Park, prompting mandatory evacuation orders for some residents and businesses and shutting down access to mountain roads.
The Kruger Rock Fire, burning near Hermit Park southeast of downtown Estes Park, about 90 minutes outside Denver, was first reported at 7 a.m. and quickly expanded to about 75 acres over the next two hours. Several structures were threatened, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.
The late-season fire comes amid warmer-than-normal temperatures and drought conditions in much of Colorado and the West.
There was also an elevated risk of wildfires as forecasters predicted high winds would hit a large swath of the state Tuesday, including the area along Interstate 25, where most of Colorado’s population is concentrated.
Winds near the fire were gusting at 25 to 30 mph with low humidity, according to the National Weather Service.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
