Growing wildfire brings evacuations in Colorado Springs

By the CNN Wire Staff - A wind-fueled wildfire gobbled up more acreage Tuesday afternoon, prompting the mandatory evacuation of 7,000 residents in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"The fire conditions could not be worse," said Anne Rys-Sikora, spokeswoman for a multiagency fire response team. "It is like a convection oven out there."

Residents of the North Mountain Shadows and Peregrine communities were ordered to leave their homes, authorities said.

That left more than 9,000 people evacuated in recent days, Colorado Springs officials said.

The 5,168-acre Waldo Canyon Fire remained only 5% contained, although no structures had been reported lost.

"The fire is moving," said Rys-Sikora.

The mandatory evacuation for Crystal Park was changed to voluntary, she told CNN.

Six other wildfires were active in the state, according to the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.

The largest of the fires was the High Park Fire, which began June 9 and has now consumed 87,250 acres, the U.S. Forest Service said. It was 55% contained Tuesday. The total number of homes lost rose to 257.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized the use of federal funds to help fight the Waldo Canyon Fire after Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County declared an emergency, which allows them to receive state and federal aid.

Almost all of Utah was under a red-flag warning, with at least three wildfires burning Tuesday.

FEMA is providing funds to help fight the Wood Hollow Fire, which has grown to 39,000 acres since starting Saturday afternoon. Containment was 15%.

West of Provo, Utah, the Dump Fire stood at 5,007 acres and was 100% contained, officials said.