Colorado wildfire 10 percent contained, but more evacuations issued

The Colorado wildfire is one of 19 large fires burning in nine states. In Wyoming, a 4-square-mile blaze at Guernsey State Park is 80 percent contained. In New Mexico, more than 1,500 fire fighters are battling the largest blazes in state history.

By Dan Elliott,?Associated Press / June 13, 2012

Poudre Fire Authority crews battle a wildfire in a mountainous area about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, Colo., on June 10, 2012.

(AP Photo/The Denver Post, Helen H. Richardson)

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More than 600 firefighters and nearly 30 aircraft are continuing to fight a northern Colorado wildfire blamed for one death and damage to more than 100 structures.

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The U.S. Forest Service says about 40 fire engines will also be helping efforts Wednesday to contain the fire. The fire burning 15 miles west of Fort Collins was 10 percent contained Tuesday.

The fire has forced hundreds of people from their homes. Some residents were allowed to return, but 25 new evacuation notices were issued Tuesday.

IN PICTURES: Colorado wildfires

Among those affected by the new evacuations were up to 100 people at a camp, plus Colorado State University's mountain campus at Pingree Park.

Jan Gueswel describes a harrowing escape from her Colorado mountain home: flames stretching 200 feet into the air towering over the lone road out. But she swears she'd never live anywhere else.

"I would rather live in Poudre Park than in an apartment where I don't know what my neighbor is doing," said Gueswel, who fled her home with her husband, Carl, as northern Colorado's High Park Fire exploded.

With the 68-square-mile blaze 10 percent contained, Gueswel and hundreds of other residents face extended displacement and uncertainty. They don't know if their homes still stand. But some said Tuesday they'd long ago accepted the year-round risks of fire in mountain country.

"You move out east, you got the tornadoes. You live in the mountains, you got the fires," said Denise Haines, whose family loaded up 142 alpacas and llamas from their mountain farm and took them to the Larimer County Fairgrounds.

Many residents in the mountains of southern New Mexico faced heartbreak: A 56-square-mile fire threatening the village of Ruidoso damaged or destroyed at least 224 homes and other structures. Workers found heaps of burned metal and debris on home sites hit hardest by the Little Bear fire.

"It's truly heartbreaking to see the damage done to this beautiful part of the country," New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said.

With at least 19 large fires burning in nine states, President Barack Obama called Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to assure him that the federal government was ready to provide personnel, equipment and emergency grants for states battling fire. Obama tried to reach Martinez, but her office said poor reception in the fire zone kept the two from connecting.

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