A wildfire is burning on the Southern Ute Reservation in southern Colorado, and evacuations have been ordered.
The Southern Ute tribal campus has been evacuated, officials said on Twitter. All Southern Ute tribal campus offices are evacuated and the Sky Ute Casino and Resort has also been evacuated. Roads in the area have been shut down.
The Bear Dance fire has burned about 5 acres and residential areas along Country Road 517 and 516, north toward Sundance Roade, are under a pre-evacuation notice.
The fire is along Bear Dance Road and moving north along the Pine River.
There are power outages in Ignacio, as the fire burns near a main electrical line, tribe officials said. About 5,000 customers of the the La Plata Electric Association are without power in the Ignacio and Bayfield areas.
The Southern Ute Police Department dispatch line is down because of a power loss triggered by the fire. For emergencies people in the area should call 970-563-2820.
Smoke is visible along Colorado 172 and is impacting local communities. The Southern Ute Tribe is working with oil and gas operators in the area to "shut-in facilities" in the fire area, officials said. Stage 1 fire restrictions were enacted for the reservation on May 20.
Weather in the area on Friday was warm, sunny, dry and windy, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature in Ignacio was expected to reach 84 degrees, with winds gusting to 30 mph and relative humidity at about 8%.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southern Ute Agency Fire Management and the Los Pinos Fire Protection District are fighting the fire. Firefighting air craft is being used to battle the fire and additional fire fighting resources have been ordered. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Wildfire map
Click markers for details, use buttons to change what wildfires are shown. Map data is automatically updated by government agencies and could lag real-time events. Incident types are numbered 1-5 — a type 1 incident is a large, complex wildfire affecting people and critical infrastructure, a type 5 incident is a small wildfire with few personnel involved. Find more information about incident types at the bottom of this page.
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