of La Veta all the way to Interstate 25, and south of Walsenburg to the Las Animas County line.

The fire has destroyed as many as 10 structures, including the Boy Scout ranch.

Also, 178 Boy Scouts who had been camping in the mountains of the Spanish Peaks were evacuated.

The fire, pushed by strong winds, is running to the east and southeast, fire officials said.

The West Fork fire has burned more than 18,000 acres in southwestern Colorado and forced the closure of U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass.

Evacuations extended from the top of Wolf Creek Pass along U.S. 160 all the way to the South Fork city limits. On Friday morning the town of South Fork was ordered to evacuate because of wildfire.

Other evacuations included the Lake Humphreys and 4URRanch areas on the north side of the Weminuche Wilderness, about 6 miles south of Wagon Wheel Gap and the Metroz Lake area.

Closer to Denver, the Lime Gulch fire in Jefferson County has burned 600 acres and forced the closure of Waterton Canyon on Thursday.

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Commander Dan Dallas of Rocky Mountain Area Incident Management Team B said Thursday afternoon that 20 to 30 homes remain at risk of fire damage near South Foxton Road and Platte River Road, but structure-protection crews are nearby.

The fire, which officials believe was caused by lightning, forced 100 people south of Conifer to evacuate their homes Wednesday afternoon, and evacuations remain in effect. About 255 firefighters are battling the blaze, fire officials said.

"The word from the field is things are going well," Dallas said.

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