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[DrForester]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...threatens-to-torch-colorado-tourist-town?lite

A monstrous wildfire blazed a trail through steep, rugged terrain in Colorado on Friday, threatening to scorch a tourist town in the state’s southwestern mountains, officials said.

The approximately 400 residents of South Fork, Colo., were forced to evacuate Friday as the fast-moving blaze barreled through the Rio Grande National Forest, carried along by dry, rough winds, according to a statement from Archuleta County Emergency Management.

Wildland fire crews joined forces with local firefighters to beat back the 47-square-mile inferno, which was just seven miles southwest of South Fork and raging at a rate of roughly a mile an hour Friday afternoon, according to The Associated Press.

The town is a popular destination for hiking and camping excursions. It was used as the backdrop for a zany family trip in the 1983 comedy “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

The so-called West Fork Fire Complex -- a combination of the West Fork and Windy Pass fires -- is the latest blaze to tear through the drought-parched western U.S. and comes on the heels of the so-called Black Forest blaze near Colorado Springs.

Officials said that fire, whick killed two people and ravaged 509 homes, was the most destructive on record in the state..

 

[Hunter S.]

Pretty sad, the Black Forest fire was the most destructive in state history in terms of homes burnt and property damage. And, last year when I had to evacuate as the Waldo Canyon fire (biggest in state history) burnt the mountain and many homes near my own. Colorado Springs area got fucked two years in a row. That stated, the city was covered in smoke due to Southern fires the last two days it was crazy. It has been the states two worst years ever for wildfires.

 

[fallagin]

Oh boy, right on the heels of another one? That is rough.

 

[ezrarh]

Oh snap, bad time to move to Colorado.

 

[i_am_ben]

bushfires don't fuck around.