Fire threat forces national forest in Colo. to close

DENVER — Extreme fire danger prompted officials to shut down a sprawling forest that includes some of Colorado’s most stunning mountains in a region that attracts tourists from around the world.

National forests and parks in Arizona and New Mexico have already been shut down as precautions.

San Juan National Forest officials in southwestern Colorado closed hundreds of miles of trails and thousands of miles of back roads to hikers, bikers, horseback riders and campers Tuesday to prevent the possibility of a campfire or any other spark from starting a wildfire. It’s the first full closure of a national forest in Colorado since 2002, also a very dry year.

The move comes as the residents of more than 2,000 homes have been forced to evacuate because of a fire that started June 1 and has burned about 31 square miles.