Southwestern Colorado wildfire grows to 4.2 square miles

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — A lightning-caused wildfire in southwestern Colorado that has led to the evacuation of more than two dozen homes has grown to about 4.2 square miles (10.9 square kilometers).

The East Canyon Fire started Saturday and was burning on private and U.S. Bureau of Land Management land about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Durango.

Mandatory evacuation orders were in place Sunday and Monday for 23 homes in two subdivisions, plus more homes on Cherry Creek Road near the La Plata-Montezuma county line.

Authorities closed U.S. Highway 160 between Hesperus and Mancos because of the fire but reopened it Monday evening.

Fire crews focused Monday on preventing the fire from moving into Weber Canyon, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, Pam Wilson, told The Durango Herald. A fire burned the west side of the canyon in 2012 but the new fire is threatening its east side, where there is a lot of fuel to burn, she said.