Thousands still separated
An official in charge of caring for undocumented minors separated from parents says Thursday the government must still reunite nearly 3,000 families.
Huge wildfires continued to roar across the bone-dry western U.S. on Thursday, including Colorado’s Spring Creek Fire, now the state’s third-largest on record.
That fire has already destroyed 100 homes and forced 2,000 other homes to be evacuated. It’s located near Fort Garland, roughly 205 miles southwest of Denver.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters were working to gain control of the fire in unpredictable winds, but it was only slightly contained since it first ignited June 27. As of Thursday, the fire was 161 square miles, roughly seven times the size of Manhattan.
Jesper Jorgensen, 52, has been arrested on criminal charges of arson related to starting the fire. According to an arrest affidavit, he was cooking meat for several hours in a fire pit the night before the blaze started.
Another Colorado blaze, the Lake Christine Fire, forced evacuations Thursday morning about 20 miles northwest of Aspen. The fire jumped from less than 1 square mile to about 4 square miles Wednesday, the Denver Post reported.
The wildfire was allegedly started by tracer rounds fired at a shooting range.
In Northern California, the County Fire has burned about 134 square miles and is now 27 percent contained in Napa and Yolo counties. The blaze is threatening 1,500 structures, but none have been destroyed or damaged.
Roughly 2,500 people have been forced from their homes since the blaze started Saturday. Earlier in the week in the Bay Area, about 75 miles south of the fires, falling ash was reported, and the San Francisco sky turned orange from the smoke, weather.com reported.
No rain is expected in the West through Friday. However, some monsoon-type thunderstorms could arrive over the weekend in the Southwest, according to AccuWeather.
Overall, more than 60 blazes are burning across the western U.S. and in Alaska, the National Interagency Fire Center said.