MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Brutal wildfires across the West have put tourist destinations from Montana to New Mexico in danger just at the height of midsummer family road-trip season, putting cherished Western landscapes at risk along with hordes of vacationers.
In Colorado, the $5 billion tourism industry is on edge as images of smoke-choked Pikes Peak and flaming vacation cabins near Rocky Mountain National Park threaten to scare away summer tourists.
In central Utah, a wildfire in an area dotted with vacation cabins was burning an estimated 39 square miles and threatening about 300 homes. Firefighters had that blaze at 10 percent containment Monday. The Sanpete County Sheriff's office has said that as many as 30 structures may have been lost.
But even as firefighters made progress on fires threatening structures from Utah to Montana, and some evacuated residents in Colorado were allowed to return home, tourists streamed out of some of Colorado's most popular summer sights.
Follow @sacbee_theframe
People watch from Mesa Road as a wildfire continues to burn west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The fire erupted Saturday and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Susannah Kay
A helicopter works to fight a wildfire burning west of Manitou Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Christian Murdock
People watch from Lower Gold Camp Road as a wildfire continues to burn west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Susannah Kay
Sharla Peterson, a resident of Manitou Springs, takes photos of people returning after being evacuated as a wildfire continues to burn west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
Christina Morris watches from Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., as a wildfire burns nearby on Sunday, June 24, 2012. Morris began to prepare in the event she and her family, who live near Garden of the Gods Road, need to evacuate. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Jerilee Bennett
A deer jumps through a fence along U.S. Highway 24 near Manitou Springs, Colo., as a wildfire burns near Cascade, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Christian Murdock
A raven sits in a barren tree as the sun sets near a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
The sun sets as seen from Lower Gold Camp Road as a wildfire continues to burn west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Susannah Kay
Manitou Springs residents try to return home after being evacuated as a wildfire continues to burn west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
Anne Peterson talks with High Park Fire information officer Jon Kohn on Sunday, June 24, 2012, outside The Forks in Livermore, Colo. Kohn was stationed outside the restaurant and convenience store to provide information to evacuees, as well as people like Peterson, who has been placed on pre-evacuation notice. The Coloradoan / Dawn Madura
Ken and Dottie Wanberg inspect a map as they try to gather news of their second home, which is located inside an evacuated area in the Glacier View subdivision, on Sunday, June 24, 2012, outside The Forks in Livermore, Colo. The Coloradoan / Dawn Madura
A wildfire burns near Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
A helicopter battles a wildfire near Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
Smoke billows from a wildfire burning near Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
A wildfire burns by Cedar Heights, a gated community near Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Jerilee Bennett
Smoke billows from a wildfire burning near Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
A helicopter flies over a wildfire burning west of Manitou Springs, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Christian Murdock
Animals from evacuated areas of Colorado Springs, Colo., are housed at the local Humane Society on Sunday, June 24, 2012, as a wildfire continues to burn nearby. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Jerilee Bennett
Karen Bodine loads alfalfa as her husband, Greg Bodine, left, and her father, Duane Schormann, load her father's animals into a trailer as a wildfire burns near Schormann's home in Cascade, Colo., on Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette / Christian Murdock
In this photo provided by Darrell Spangler, rubble smolders Sunday, June 24, 2012, from a home consumed by fire a day earlier, in Estes Park, Colo. AP / Darrell Spangler
In this Saturday, June 23, 2012 photo provided by Darrell Spangler, a firefighter works the scene of a home being consumed by flames in Estes Park, Colo. AP / Darrell Spangler
A A fire fighting helicopter flies over a wildfire near Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday, June 23, 2012. The Gazette / Mark Reis
People watch as smoke billows from a wildfire west of Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
A slurry bomber drops fire retardant on a blaze near Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday, June 23, 2012. The Gazette / Christian murdock
A slurry bomber drops fire retardant on a blaze near Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday, June 23, 2012. The Gazette / Mark Reis
Leaping flames race across a ridge as the Waldo Canyon Fire burned 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
A giant plume from the Waldo Canyon Fire hovers high above Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. AP / Bryan Oller
Fire burns behind homes north of Poudre Canyon in the Glacier View area near Livermore, Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. AP / Ed Andrieski
A firefighting aircraft is dwarfed by a plume of smoke north of Poudre Canyon in the Glacier View area near Livermore, Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. AP / Ed Andrieski
The sun sets behind a plume of smoke from the High Park wildfire near Livermore , Colo., on Friday, June 22, 2012. AP / Ed Andrieski
In this June 19, 2012 photo provided by the Colorado National Guard, an aircraft drops a load of fire retardant slurry above the High Park wildfire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, Colo. Colorado National Guard / John Rohrer
An air tanker drops fire retardant while battling a blaze near Mt. Pleasant, Utah, on Monday, June 25, 2012. Firefighting officials say they have 10 percent containment on a fire that's threatening about 300 homes in Sanpete County and has burned structures, although they say it's not clear how many structures were burned or what kind they are. Deseret News / Scott G. Winterton
This aerial photo shows structures and wooded areas scorched by a wildfire near Mt. Pleasant, Utah, on Monday, June 25, 2012. Deseret News / Scott G. Winterton
Helicopters are used to try and contain the Dump Wildfire in Saratoga Springs-Eagle Mountain area in Saratoga Springs, Utah on June 22, 2012. Salt Lake Tribune / Kim Raff
Emergency responders work on a wild land fire that is threatening homes in Saratoga Springs, Utah, Friday, June 22, 2012. The Deseret News / Jeffrey D. Allred
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.