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More than 32,000 ordered to flee Colorado wildfire

  • Photo by AP Photo/Gaylon Wampler •
Fire from the Waldo Canyon wildfire burns as it moved into subdivisions and destroyed homes in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday, June 26, 2012.
  • Originally published June 27, 2012 at 8:30 a.m., updated June 27, 2012 at 8:30 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A stubborn and towering wildfire jumped firefighters' perimeter lines in the hills overlooking Colorado Springs, forcing frantic mandatory evacuation notices for more than 32,000 residents, including the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The fire destroyed an unknown number of homes, but no injuries were reported.

El Paso County sheriff's spokeswoman Jackie Kirby said Wednesday that at least six subdivisions were included in the evacuation orders, along with residents of the Air Force Academy.

The evacuation area extended all the way to Interstate 25, the major thoroughfare that runs north and south through the city.

She said the fire spread quickly into the Colorado Springs city limits.

"It's an extremely active fire. It just flew," she said.

Gov. John Hickenlooper said the blaze was "almost surreal."

"It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine," Hickenlooper said after flying over the fire late Tuesday. "You look at that, and it's like nothing I've seen before."

The Waldo Canyon fire started June 23 west of the city and now covers more than 10 square miles.

To the north in Boulder County, officials evacuated 26 households when a wildfire erupted Tuesday afternoon. In northern Colorado, the 136-square-mile High Park Fire has destroyed 257 homes and killed one woman.