Firefighters are letting areas of the Hayden Pass Fire burn near Coaldale because it is too dangerous to send firefighters into some the rugged wilderness areas currently burning.
However, incident commanders say they have managed to protect homes and the blaze is 30 percent contained as of this morning. Residents began evacuating July 11 after the fire flared up from a lightning strike several days earlier. So far, it has scorched approximately 16,000 acres.
The state’s largest fire, the Beaver Creek Fire, which is burning along the Colorado-Wyoming border, has blackened more than 22,400 acres. The fire started June 19 and is still burning mostly out of control in uninhabited wilderness area. Fire officials don’t expect that fire to be fully extinguished until possibly some time in October.
Crews have fully contained other fires in the state including the Cold Springs Fire near Nederland which destroyed 8 homes last week. Residents that were evacuated due to that fire have all been allowed to return home.
