Two killed as monster wildfire threatens Colorado Springs

Two people have been killed by the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, law enforcement officials said on Thursday, as crews fought to keep the fierce, wind-whipped blaze from roaring into the outskirts of Colorado Springs.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the bodies of two people had been recovered in the burn area of the so-called Black Forest Fire, which has destroyed at least 360 homes near the northeastern fringe of the state’s second-largest city.

The blaze has ripped across more than 26,215 hectares of terrain northeast of Colorado Springs since it erupted on Tuesday, forcing some 38,000 people to flee the flames.

The two victims, who were not immediately identified, were found in the open garage of their home in a heavily wooded area, apparently overtaken by flames as they attempted to evacuate, Maketa said.

Maketa said that a person who spoke to the victims by phone said the pair reported seeing the glow of flames in the distance as they packed to leave. Forty minutes later, he said, a second witness spoke to them by phone.

“The person they were speaking with said he could hear popping and cracking in the background and they {the two people] advised they were leaving right now,” Maketa said.