New Colo. Wildfire Forces Thousands of Evacuations

A wildfire near Colorado Springs grew to more than 6 square miles on Sunday after erupting just a day earlier and forcing evacuation for 11,000 residents, according to newspaper reports.

Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade, with more than a half dozen forest fires burning across the drought-plagued state, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

The High Park Fire has reached more than 130 square miles and is 45 percent contained. A fire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed an estimated 22 residences near the mountain community of Estes Park, including vacation cabins and it blew smoke toward the historic Stanley Hotel that inspired Steven King’s “The Shinning,” the newspaper reported.