The Associated Press and other media outlets are reporting that three firefighters have been injured while fighting the Heartstrong wildfire in northeastern Colorado’s Yuma County (map). The Colorado Division of Emergency Management retweeted Eric Hurst of 5280fire.com who said at about 5:30 p.m. MT:
Two fire trucks burned over and destroyed in Yuma County, 3 Firefighters have been injured.
Yuma County Sheriff Chad Day said one firefighter suffered minor burns to the face and was being treated at a hospital. A second firefighter was being treated for smoke inhalation, while a third suffered minor burns to the arms.
The fire started today at about 1:15 p.m. south of Yuma and spread toward Eckley, forcing 300 residents to evacuate.
Other news reports say that two or more structures have been destroyed in the wind-driven fire. CBS in Denver said that as of about 7 p.m. the fire was still active and that Highway US-34 east of Yuma was closed.
This afternoon a weather station at the Wray, Colorado airport about 12 miles east of Eckley, recorded a minimum relative humidity of 9% and 35-40 mph winds out of the south with gusts of 50-59 mph. Strong winds of 20-30 mph gusting at 28-40 are expected to continue until 3:00 a.m., after which they will decrease to about 11 mph.
