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Carey said officials had no plans to release the numbers of homes destroyed
-- insisting residents have a right to be told first, in private. The FBI said it was investigating the cause of the blaze. In addition to the some 30,000 evacuees, about 3,000 more people were evacuated to the west of the fire, Teller County authorities said Wednesday, and Teller County courts were closed through Thursday. The Red Cross was accommodating victims at its shelters, with space enough for perhaps 2,500 people. Most evacuees were staying with family and friends. Crews also were battling a deadly and destructive wildfire in northern Colorado and another that flared Tuesday night near Boulder. Colorado wasn't the only state affected by fire, as several burned throughout the parched West. Tom Harbour, director of fire and aviation management for the U.S. Forest Service, said there is competition for firefighting resources, including aircraft. "We're still at a point where we've got lots of available assets to mix and match on individual incidents." Some states are seeing fires earlier this year, but Harbour said resources are far from being exhausted. "With over 10,000 firefighters in the Forest Service and the ability to get over 700 aircraft of all types, we're feeling cautiously confident when you look at the season as a whole," Harbour said. Among the fires elsewhere in the West: A 72-square-mile wildfire in central Utah has destroyed at least 56 structures, mainly homes, and continues to burn with little containment, authorities said Wednesday. Officials expected the damage estimate to rise considerably as they continue their assessment of the fire-ravaged area between Fountain Green and Fairview and north across the Utah County line. Officials returned to an evacuated area and found a woman dead Tuesday. The smaller New Harmony Fire near St. George started Wednesday afternoon and had grown to 2,000 acres by midnight, forcing an undetermined number of residents near New Harmony and Bumblebee to evacuate. The fire was burning about three miles north of Zion National Park, prompting park officials to close a canyon area popular with hikers known as the Kolob section. Wildfires that have torched more than 200 square miles and burned dozens of homes in southeastern Montana spread farther Wednesday, with additional evacuations ordered after a blaze south of Roundup jumped a perimeter line built by firefighters. The growing Dahl fire, which has burned more than 60 homes by one estimate, forced an unknown number of residents to leave their homes near its southern flank, on top of an estimated 600 people evacuated the day before. A wildfire in the Bridger-Teton National Forest has grown from about 2,000 acres to 12,000 acres, or nearly 19 square miles, officials said Wednesday. Authorities worked to get campers out of the area.
"That's one of the most dangerous fires in the history of Montana," Gov. Brian Schweitzer said.
[Associated
Press;
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