A growing wildfire destroys more than 100 homes near La Veta, Colorado, and other blazes across the parched U.S. West keep hundreds of other homes under evacuation orders.
Hotshot crews from Mendocino use backfires to help contain the County Fire along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, on Tuesday, July 3. Firefighters have been using aircraft, bulldozers and backfires to curb the blaze.
A helicopter moves along ridges to make water drops on the Spring Creek Fire as it continues to burn in Costilla County on Tuesday, July 3, near La Veta, Colorado. While investigators believe it was started by a spark from a fire pit, other fires, like one that began burning in wilderness near Fairplay, were started by lightning.
Ty Warren leaves a pen where his father’s cattle are being kept at the Huerfano County Fairgrounds where displaced people have brought their pets for safe keeping as the Spring Creek Fire continues to burn Tuesday, July 3, in La Veta, Colorado.
The Spring Creek Fire continues to burn in Costilla County on Tuesday, July 3, in La Veta, Colorado. More than 100 homes in the Colorado mountains were destroyed by a growing wildfire, while hundreds of others across the parched U.S. West remained under evacuations Tuesday and the closure of recreation areas derailed holiday plans.
A helicopter returns for water after making a water drop on the Weston Pass Fire near Fairplay, Colorado.
Smoke rises from the Spring Fire as it burns Tuesday, July 3, near Fort Garland, Colorado. The growing wildfire destroyed more than 100 homes.
Charred land from the Spring Creek Fire is shown during a tour of the wildfire Tuesday, July 3, near Fort Garland, Colorado. The growing wildfire destroyed more than 100 homes.
Charred land from the Spring Creek Fire is shown during a tour of the wildfire Tuesday, July 3, near Fort Garland, Colorado. The growing wildfire destroyed more than 100 homes in the Colorado mountains, while other blazes across the parched West.
A helicopter dumps water Monday as a wildfire burns near the Highland Meadows subdivision west of Cripple Creek, Colorado.
A large plume of smoke begins to build Monday afternoon from the Weston Pass Fire near Fairplay, Colorado.
A burnt-out structure is visible through the smoke as the Dollar Ridge Fire continues to burn east of Strawberry Reservoir, in Wasatch County, Utah, Tuesday, July 3.
The Dollar Ridge Fire continues to burn east of Strawberry Reservoir, in Wasatch County, Utah, on Tuesday, July 3. The blaze, which officials believe was human-caused, started Sunday about 5 miles southeast of the popular fishing spot of Strawberry Reservoir. The Utah fire comes as hot, dry conditions are fueling blazes in several Western states, including in Colorado and California.
The Dollar Ridge Fire burns Monday near Strawberry Reservoir, Utah. The fire is threatening a cabin that Lewis and his extended family planned to spend the Fourth of July at in the Utah wilderness built nearly 50 years ago by his father and uncle. Instead, Lewis and his family will spend the holiday nervously waiting to hear if a half century of family memories go up in smoke.
Hotshot crews from Mendocino use backfires to help contain the County Fire along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, on Tuesday, July 3. Firefighters have been using aircraft, bulldozers and backfires to curb the blaze.
Hotshot crews from Mendocino walk through a sea of tall dry grass to set backfires to help contain the County Fire along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, on Tuesday, July 3. Firefighters have been using aircraft, bulldozers and backfires to curb the blaze.
Hotshot crews from Mendocino use backfires to help contain the County Fire along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, Tuesday, July 3.
Fire burns the hillsides as the County Fire continues along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, Tuesday, July 3.
