Early season wildfire hits 1,000 acres in Colorado

GlobalPost

An early season wildfire in Colorado near Fort Collins has consumed from 700 to 1,000 acres and has caused hundreds of people to evacuate in the wake of the flames.

Firefighters hoped for calm weather Saturday as they continued to battle what has been dubbed the "Galena" fire, which is currently threatening 50 homes, wrote 9news.com.

Read more from GlobalPost: Obama to tour fire-ravaged Colorado (VIDEO)

According to the Associated Press, the fire in and near Lory State Park was first identified early Friday and swiftly spread. It was described as "five percent" contained by Saturday morning.

"The main path that it can take is south ... right into those subdivisions that are located in that area"  nearby the southwestern end of the Horsetooth Reservoir, said Captain Patrick Love of the Poudre Fire Authority to USA Today.

According to the Denver Post, authorities had sent out 860 evacuation phone calls due to the fire, and noted that although 100 firefighters had been sent to the scene, no aircraft could be used due to high winds.

"The winds are playing a major factor right now," said Love to 9news.com. "We've had variable and erratic winds all day long."

Search teams had been deployed to find hikers reported to be in the park, the Post added.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.