Royal Gorge Fire Continues To Burn, Forces Evacuation Of More Than 900 Prisoners

Royal Gorge Fire Forces Evacuation Of 900 Prisoners

Firefighters are continuing to battle a 3,800-acre wildfire at and around Colorado's Royal Gorge Bridge and Park near Canon City. As of Wednesday morning, the blaze was zero percent contained, according to authorities.

"We have knocked a good portion of this fire down with some great firefighting work overnight, and throughout the day yesterday, but we are not going to call any of it contained until firefighters feel more confident about that," Fire Information Officer Gregg Goodland said during a press conference Wednesday, according to the Canon City Daily Record.

"Today, we are expecting a little less active fire, but make no doubt about it, with very low relative humidities, we will have some fire activity come up."

The Royal Gorge fire, which sparked on Tuesday afternoon, has prompted mass evacuations in the area. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, businesses have been shuttered, and hundreds of people have been forced to leave the vicinity of the blaze.

More than 900 inmates were also evacuated from Territorial Prison, located near Canon City, on Tuesday night.

Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said it was the first time in the organization's history that an entire prison was evacuated.

"This was done as a precautionary, preemptive operation," Morgan told the Denver Post, adding that the wildfire had been only four or five miles away from the prison.

There are currently about 150 firefighters on the ground working to contain the Royal Gorge blaze, the Daily Record reports.

Authorities say no one in Canon City has yet been asked to evacuate. However, residents in the area have been warned to stay indoors with the windows closed.

Four major wildfires in Colorado have forced thousands to evacuate in the last two days. Hundreds of homes have already been reported damaged.

Before You Go

West Fork Complex Fire

Colorado Wildfires 2013

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot