A huge wildfire near one of southern Colorado’s more popular summer destinations is rapidly spreading and weather is hurting firefighter’s efforts to bring it under control.
The fire near the Wolf Creek ski area and South Fork had more than doubled in size since Friday night.
Officials say high winds and a large number of dead trees have been allowing the fire to grow out of control. A commander with the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Command Team told FoxNews the wildfire is the worst that has ever hit the Rio Grande National Forest.
“With that much beetle kill and drought we could have every resource in the country here and still not put in a containment line,” Pete Blume said.
The entire town of South Fork has been evacuated and residents told Fox that they were not given any idea when they might be able to return to their homes.
At least 600 firefighters are on the scene of the blaze with more approaching every day. The historic mining town of Creede, the last silver boom town in Colorado, is in the path of the fire.