BAILEY, Colo. -- A wildfire burning west of Bailey forced 500 families to evacuate thier homes and closed Platte Canyon High School and Fitzsimmons Middle School, 7NEWS reported.

Four subdivisions were on mandatory evacuations: Ravenswood, Friendship Ranch, Bailey Estates and Hill & Dale. Residents living in Crow Gulch and Crow Valley were advised to leave their homes, but were not forced to, 7NEWS reported.

The Horseshoe Park subdivision was evacuated late Tuesday night.

Evacuated homeowners were told to go to Elk Creek Elementary School at Shaffers Crossing, where the Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter. About 100 people were there Tuesday night.

Firefighters went through neighborhoods downwind of the fire Tuesday afternoon and told people in about 400 homes to leave immediately, 7NEWS reported.

Some residents told 7NEWS that they had just a couple of minutes to grab their pets and a few precious items before they were forced by firefighters to leaves their property.

By Tuesday night, the fire was within several hundred yards of some homes.

All Platte Canyon schools -- Platte Canyon High, Fitzsimmons Middle School, and Deer Creek Elementary School -- will be closed Wednesday because of the fire.

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BAILEY FIRE SLIDESHOW: Pictures From Snaking Road Gulch Fire

Elk Creek Elementary School in Jefferson County will also be closed Wednesday because that's where the evacuated families are staying until officials have declared it safe for them to return to their homes.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a "Fire Management Assistance Declaration" Tuesday night, which frees up federal funds to help fight the fire. Gov. Bill Owens had been on the phone with FEMA throughout the afternoon asking for help.

The fire, estimated at 800 acres around 9 p.m., grew from a single acre to 50 acres in just two hours. It started around noon on the mountainside behind Platte Canyon High School, about four miles west of Bailey, near the community of Shawnee.

It was not immediately known how the fire started.

There were at least two injuries from the fire: One was firefighter who sprained his ankle the other was a private citizen who had smoke inhalation.

High winds grounded two air tankers who were prepared to drop slurry early on in the fire. A helicopter with a water bucket did what it could to fight the fire. Three air tankers and three helicopters were ordered for Wednesday.

The blaze was being fed by dry fuel -- mostly a mixture of grass, mountain brush and Ponderosa pine -- and heavy winds.

It was burning on both private property and Forest Service land and moving northeast, 7NEWS reported.

The ceaseless wind will be around through the night, according to 7NEWS meteorologist Marty Coniglio.

In the mountains and foothills, the winds will be from the west at 25 to 50 mph, but then will swing around from the north as a front comes through, Coniglio said.

The blaze was dubbed the Snaking Road Gulch Fire. Platte Canyon firefighters asked for additional help from nearby fire departments and the National Forest Service also sent special firefighting teams to battle the blaze.

About 120 more firefighters were due to arrive Wednesday along with a federal "Level 1" team of high-experienced firefighters from South Dakota.

No structures have been damaged and there have been no reports of injuries. The fire was within several hundred yards of a number of homes Tuesday night.

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Other Fires Still Smoldering

This latest fire is about 8 miles from the Topaz Mountain Fire which has burned about 350 acres in the Pike National Forest. It is about 50 percent contained.

The Hewlett Gulch fire in Larimer County is still smoldering. It started last Thursday and has charred about 600 acres. It was only 60 percent contained.

Gov. Bill Owens said Tuesday that Colorado faces the worst fire season in more than a century.

According to officials, the fire season has essentially started two months early this year.

Colorado has already seen 283 fires this season, compared to the year 2000, when the state had only 54 fires up to this point. That had been known as the worst fire season in recent memory because 7.3 million acres burned that season, 7NEWS reported.