Video: Air tankers fight ?extreme? Colorado fire
>>> as we mentioned we've got a dangerous situation in the american west . conditions are bad. red flag fire warnings are posted from kansas all the way west to california and in colorado it's downright urgent. 11,000 people evacuated right now tonight, 12 active fires. this smoke plume was caught by our veteran cameraman ray farmer on approach into denver's airport. it looked more like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion from the air. nbc's miguel almaguer is covering for us tonight in colorado springs . miguel , good evening.
>> reporter: brian , good evening. the fire burning in the hills behind me has been described as relentless, what some feared as a worst case scenario after a prolonged drought here came true. it's a blaze that for now crews cannot stop. fueled by dry brush, fanned by 30-mile-per-hour winds, the waldo canyon fire in colorado springs is a monster that consumed five square miles in just hours.
>> i think it's probably the greatest natural threat we have seen in this community in the last 30, 40 years.
>> reporter: the blaze, closing in on homes, forced 11,000 to evacuate sunday. hundreds of tourists left vacation campgrounds to seek shelter in a high school gym.
>> we're used to the hurricanes and evacuating. now forest fires and it's just like reminding us of being back home with the hurricanes.
>> reporter: tonight popular campgrounds and state parks are shrouded in smoke and closed. across colorado , at least 12 major wildfires are burning tonight. in estes park , a gateway to the rockies, 22 homes were destroyed by a fast-moving blaze. in fort collins the hyde park fire has now claimed 248 homes. 3,000 are still evacuated. marco mendoni is living in a motel.
>> this is my life right now, and right now we're in limbo.
>> reporter: what makes it so difficult to fight?
>> you have extreme fire behavior, large, flaming fronts. we can't get right up on the edge of the fire.
>> reporter: today fema authorized the use of federal funds to fight fires in colorado and the air force brought in four specially equipped heavy air tankers to join the more than 70 aircraft already in the fight.
>> almost half of all the airborne fire equipment in the country is in colorado .
>> reporter: the worst fire season in more than a decade is tonight nowhere near over. brian , you can probably hear and see the big threat tonight. wind, a red flag warning in some 11 states across the west. as for the blaze here it's charred some 3400 acres. it is 5% contained. the mean start to a fire season that is threatening both lives and homes. brian ?
>> a terrible situation out there, colorado springs tonight. miguel almaguer covering for us. miguel , thanks.
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