Firefighters battling the Beaver Creek fire in northern Colorado along the central Wyoming border were pulled back to safety zones Wednesday afternoon when hot, humid weather and strong winds fueled extreme fire behavior.
About 500 additional acres burned as firefighters were pulled off the southeast portion of the blaze into safety zones, fire command officials said Wednesday in a 6 p.m. update.
The Beaver Creek fire, which ignited June 19 about 24 miles northwest of Walden, has burned 26,067 acres, according to fire officials.
Fire command requested additional aircraft Wednesday, including helicopters, a heavy tanker and single-engine air tankers.
Structure protection measures were taken at several buildings in the fire zone; it’s unknown if any structures were lost in the extreme fire behavior. There were no reports of injuries.
The fire is burning in heavy beetle-killed timber with many trees falling over, causing extreme unsafe conditions for firefighters.
