Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

COLORADO

Two campers accused of igniting a Colorado wildfire that has forced the evacuation of 2,000 people. The fire has burned about a square mile in the foothills roughly 20 miles west of Boulder and has destroyed three homes.

In northern Colorado, firefighters say a wildfire near the Wyoming border has burned another 1,000 acres, and they are warning that the fire could spread rapidly on Sunday because high winds are forecast.

UTAH

Crews spotted an unauthorized drone over a southern Utah wildfire for the fifth time since it ignited nearly a month ago, stirring fears that firefighting aircraft could be at risk of a collision.

Firefighters will still use their airplanes and helicopters but face random, illegal drone flights as one more hazard, said a spokesperson for a team of agencies fighting the 3.6-square-mile fire about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.

CALIFORNIA

Crews bracing for another round of dry winds are dousing hot spots as they continue to build containment lines around a smoky fire that forced weekend evacuations in the Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles. Officials said late Sunday that the blaze in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains was 65 percent contained after consuming about 1.7 square miles of thick chaparral.

About 2,000 people sent fleeing from homes in the Stevenson Ranch area were allowed to return Saturday night. Aerial photos showed the flames came to the property line of a ridgetop home that was covered in fire retardant. The cause is under investigation.

In the last two months, nearly 100,000 acres have burned in California in as many as nine separate fires at once. The Erskine fire near Lake Isabella killed two people and destroyed more than 280 homes.