Posted on 06/19/2002 12:41:27 PM PDT by dead
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (Reuters) - Hot weather pumped up a wildfire southwest of Denver on Wednesday as prosecutors examined the possibility a fire prevention officer charged with igniting the blaze hoped to become a hero by putting it out.
The Hayman fire, about 55 miles southwest of Denver, grew to 127,000 acres overnight from 113,000 acres on Tuesday. Containment, the line that crews build around a wildfire, was scaled back to 40 percent from 47 percent, fire information officer Bobbie Mixon said.
"It's a red flag warning day," Mixon said, meaning dangerous weather could lead to a rapid or dramatic increase in the wildfire.
"All the conditions exist -- we've got high temperatures, 85 degrees and winds approaching 30 miles per hour," he said. "It's going to be another tough day for firefighters."
The Denver Post reported on Wednesday that prosecutors were investigating the theory that Terry Lynn Barton, who has worked for 18 years as a fire prevention officer, lit the blaze so she could look like a hero by putting it out.
Although Barton told investigators she started the fire accidentally while burning a letter from her estranged husband, fire investigators determined the fire was set deliberately, according to an affidavit filed with the court.
Barton was due back in federal court on Thursday for a bail hearing.
Her lawyer, Warren Williamson, said he planned to present arguments to persuade the judge to release the 38-year-old mother of two and counter the government's contention the woman is a flight risk.
"I'm hoping to present to the court proposed conditions that would reasonably assure, not guarantee, her presence at future (court) appearances," Williamson told Reuters.
BAD FIRE SEASON AHEAD
Large fires are burning in 10 other U.S. states -- Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming, and federal officials have said this year's fire season could be worse than usual.
Colorado, like other Rocky Mountain states, is in the grip of a severe drought, making timber bone dry and vulnerable to lightning strikes or flying embers from fires left unattended.
The Hayman fire on Tuesday crossed a main highway, forcing evacuations in 13 subdivisions in Douglas County, one of four counties where the fire has been raging since June 8. Other residents in the fire's path were on alert to move out quickly.
More than 6,000 residents remain evacuated. There have been no deaths in the fire.
The blaze has not touched the city of Denver, although smoke has blanketed the city at times.
Crews made progress over the weekend when humidity went up, but cooler temperatures may not help out until Thursday at the earliest, officials said.
Wednesday's temperatures were slightly cooler than on Tuesday when it was in the 90s (30s C) and humidity inched up.
"We're hoping for a better day today than the last two. We're expecting higher humidity," fire information officer Joe Colwell said. Humidity could be as high as 15 to 20 percent, up from single digits on Tuesday.
Officials were particularly concerned about Perry Park, a subdivision in a canyon in Douglas County. "If the fire gets into that area, those canyons act like a chimney," Colwell said. "Winds are still the wild card."
Things were not much better on the other side of the state where the Missionary Ridge fire, north of Durango in southwest Colorado, consumed 44,300 acres, up from 38,000 acres on Tuesday. Residents in 18 subdivisions have had to evacuate, although the fire remained 25 percent contained, Mixon said.
It's when the timber is bone dry.
Unlike Minnesota where we got another 1/2 inch of rain last night, and everything is sopping wet and where lakes and rivers are full to overflowing.
too bad we can't rig up some sort of "rain catcher" and divert some of this downfall to send out west.
Time out: 14:57
KMG-365
The wish bone.
How the heck do they determine a thing like this? Seems in an outdoor wildfire, the "evidence" would be completely destroyed.
Well, confession is good for the soul. Terry may have felt constrained to sing.
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