Wind-driven wildfires destroy homes near Colorado Springs DENVER (Reuters) - High winds, scorching heat and low humidity fueled a wildfire that burned several homes on the edge of Colorado Springs on Tuesday and another blaze forced the evacuation of one of Colorado's top tourist attractions, authorities said. The blaze near Colorado Springs ignited on Tuesday and ripped through the Black Forest, northeast of the city, said Mike Stearly, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. The fast-moving blaze reached a residential neighborhood where it torched at least eight homes and an unknown number of outbuildings, El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lieutenant Jeff Kramer said. He said authorities have no estimate of the size of the fire. In June 2012, the so-called Waldo Canyon Fire reduced about 350 homes to ash in the Colorado Springs area and led authorities to place more than 30,000 people in the city and surrounding communities under mandatory evacuation orders. It was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's history. In neighboring Fremont County, a 300-acre (120-hectare) wildfire broke out on Tuesday and prompted the evacuation of the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said in a statement. The Royal Gorge span, which is billed as the world's highest suspension bridge, stretches nearly 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River for a quarter-mile and is one of Colorado's most visible tourist destinations. The bridge itself is not threatened by the flames. The fire started on the south side of the river and later jumped to the north bank, fire managers said. They added that the river is closed to rafting and other recreational activities in the area and nearby residents are under mandatory evacuation orders. Investigators are seeking the cause of both fires. In northern Colorado, a lightning-sparked wildfire that erupted on Monday in Rocky Mountain National Park has burned about 100 acres and is spreading. "It is increasing in size due to winds, low humidity and beetle-killed trees" which are dry, said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. No structures are immediately threatened by that blaze, which is called the Big Meadows Fire, she said. The National Weather Service said single-digit humidity values and temperatures in the upper 90s Fahrenheit (upper 30s Celsius), combined with wind gusts in excess of 40 miles an hour have created "very high to extreme fire danger" in Colorado for most of the week. Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Tim Gaynor and Mohammad Zargham