Mesa Blaze Grows to 17,000 Acres

July 24, 2000 -- A massive wildfire in Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park grew to 17,000 acres by Sunday night.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blaze, which began on Thursday — apparently caused by lightening — and was fanned by unpredictable winds and extremely dry weather.

The main attractions at the park, including ancient Indian ruins and cliff dwellings, have not yet been threatened and park service officers hope to contain the fire before it can reach any critical areas.

But the fire is threatening a park campground and has reportedly spread into part of a nearby reservation. About 1,000 tourists were evacuated late last week.

So far, it is only ten percent contained and the park is to remain closed indefinitely.

Forced From Their Homes

Meanwhile, more than 80 park employees were forced out of their homes Sunday morning while firefighters battled the blaze, said Sue Johnson Erner, spokeswoman for Mesa Verde National Park.

About 500 firefighters were on site, but only about 250 were deployed tothe fire lines because of the difficulty of getting into thesteep-sided canyons.

“When they get this big, you don’t put them out,” said firemanagement officer Tim Oliverious, U.S. Park Service. “It willtake a major change in the weather, topography or fuels, and rightnow the forces are lined up in favor of the fire.”

One firefighter reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Nearly 56,000 fires have burned 2.8 million acres nationwidethis season, according to the National Interagency Fire Center inIdaho, the worst acreage total since 1996.

Other Fires

A second fire burned 150 acres northwest of the Mesa Verde fire near Hoveweet National Monument. Ten homes were evacuated there, said Lt. Kalvin Boggs of the MontezumaCounty Sheriff’s office.

“We’re running short on resources,” said Deb Koening,spokeswoman at an interagency fire dispatch center in Durango.

Wildfires also burned in Southern California — including a5,000-acre blaze in a remote canyon in Death Valley National Park. In the Northwest, fires consumed 70,000 acres in eastern Oregon.

The California fires started in desertgrass and brush in Happy Canyon, north of the small desertcommunity of Trona, said Tom Sensintaffar, manager of a federalinteragency communications center. Flames then spread into higherelevations and into the park.

About 10 firefighters were initially on the scene, but “we’renow mobilizing a couple of hundred more,” Sensintaffar said. The area’ssteep terrain and limited road access mean the fire must be foughtprimarily from the air, he said.

No injuries were reported, and the park remained open,spokeswoman Nancy Wizner said. The cause of the blaze was unknown.

Smaller fires burned west of Santa Clarita, east of Temecula,and in Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County.

Oregon Fire Contained

In Oregon, firefighters were able to contain a 70,000-acre firethat burned near Boardman after gusty winds died down. The firestarted late Saturday morning, and high temperatures and winds hadmoved the flames quickly through dry grassland in two counties.

The blaze had threatened several farm houses and closed ahighway in the remote area, but there were no reports of injuriesor property damage, officials said. The cause was unknown.

The largest was burning on 1,500 acres about seven miles east ofRangely and threatened two trailers and two cabins. It was 10percent contained Saturday.

ABCNEWS.com’s Maria F. Durand, ABCNEWS affiliate KOAT in Albuquerque and The Associated Press contributed to this report.