Wind-swept Colorado Wildfire Demolishes Three Homes and Damages a Fourth, No Injuries Reported

MESA, Colo. – A wind-swept wildfire destroyed three homes and damaged a fourth in this small western Colorado town, but no injuries were reported, authorities said Friday.

The fire broke out Thursday night in Mesa, 175 miles west of Denver, and scorched about 10 acres before it was contained by early Friday, said Mike Page, a spokesman for the firefighters. The cause was under investigation.

"It's a real deep canyon and the fire got down inside there and made it real difficult," said Page, a fire spokesman from nearby Grand Junction who was helping with the Mesa operation.

Page said about 45 homes were evacuated. It was not immediately known if the residents had been allowed back in.

A second fire in New Castle, about 40 miles northwest of Mesa, was 90 percent contained and residents of at least 60 homes were allowed to return. At the peak of the fire, 90 homes were evacuated. Some of those homes had been threatened by the 1994 Storm King Fire, which claimed the lives of 14 firefighters.

The size of the New Castle fire was revised downward after more precise mapping Thursday, from 1,800 acres to 1,240 acres. It was caused by lightning.

A third fire that burned more than 1,000 acres in remote and rugged country 75 miles west of New Castle was nearly contained Friday.