The Hayman wildfire continued to thwart all efforts at containment Tuesday afternoon as it sent walls of fire in three separate directions, menacing more homes and additional forest land as it grew to 86,000 acres, or 136 square miles.

HAYMAN FIRE INTERACTIVE VIDEO: Heavy Fire Near Signal Butte 6/18 VIDEO: Over Turkey Rock 6/17 VIDEO: Burned Homes In Douglas County DISCUSSION: How Can Wildfires Be Prevented? SURVEY: Forest Service Liable? SURVEY: Should State's Forests Be Closed? SLIDESHOW: Hayman Fire Explodes 6/18 SLIDESHOW: Deckers Area Fire Tour (Thursday) SLIDESHOW: Working The Fire SLIDESHOW: Dramatic Pictures SLIDESHOW: From Viewers MULTIMEDIA: Causes And Protections SIZE Subdivisions In Zone Perimeter Map At 137,000 Acres Early Fire Growth Early Satellite Image Large Satellite Enhanced Color Satellite With Landmarks EVACUATION Neighborhoods Affected Tips Pets, Large Animals INFO Get Federal Funds How You Can Help Open Fires Banned Penalties Fireworks Shows On? Forest Closure Wildfire Terminology Smell Smoke? Effect On Wildlife RESOURCES Hayman Fire Incident Page Douglas County Jefferson County Teller County National Incident Report Fire Bans

This fire is the largest in the state's 126-year history and currently stretches 15 miles long along the foothills, according to officials.

7NEWS AirTracker Pilot Rich Westra, who has flown over the blaze all day, believes that it is much larger than that.

"It takes us about 15 minutes to fly along just one flank of this fire, and we're traveling at 120 mph," he said.

The north flank had burned to approximately Sugar Creek Road and Platte River Road, or approximately 7 miles south-southwest of Roxborough Park, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's office. The east flank had burned to just west of Rampart Range Road, or about 4 miles west of Perry Park. Both the north and east flanks, though still burning, were not moving Tuesday, Douglas County officials said.

The west flank of the fire was active Tuesday afternoon, moving into the Lost Creek Wilderness area and burning south of Wellington Lake, 7NEWS reported.

The southwest head, near Lake George, is crowning and active, burning over a previous containment line, forcing firefighters back and threatening more homes.

The fire was 0 percent contained as it broke through established fire lines around 5 percent of the perimeter.

More than 540 firefighters were on the lines Tuesday, consisting of two hotshot crews, 14 Type 2 crews, and eleven 20-person hand crews. Another 40 additonal 20-person crews have been ordered. That will mean a total of almost 1,350 firefighters to battle Colorado's largest fire.

So far, the fire has not forced any further evacuations on the west side of the fire, but winds picked up during the afternoon, and shifted dramatically, forcing new mandatory evacuations on the south end of the fire, in Teller County.

Mandatory Evacuations In Teller County Today

The Teller County Sheriff's Office ordered mandatory evacuations Tuesday afternoon for those living along Park County RD 77 from Tarryall Reservoir south to Highway 24. The following subdivisions are also on mandatory evacuations: Lost Valley Ranch, Crystal Peak Mountain area near West Indian Creek, Sportsman's Paradise, Indian Creek, Florissant Heights, Valley Hi, and JDK. County Rd 3 north of Highway 24 (Wildhorn Road), Toms Ranch and areas to the west were also ordered evacuated.

The areas in Teller County that have been advised, but not ordered to evacuate are Cedar Mtn Road, Highland Lake Area north of Highway 24 between Florissant and Divide, Golden Bell subdivison, Broken Wheel subdivision, and Aspen subdivision.

The winds shifted to the southwest early Tuesday morning, pushing the fire back toward its origin near Lake George, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

This is slurry bombers were concentrating their efforts, 7NEWS Pilot Rich Westra said as he flew over the scene just before noon.

More than 400 firefighters were working on the fire, managed by two Type One incident management teams. Many of those firefighters were pulled from the front lines on Monday because of the fire's volatility.

Douglas County Gives *Strong* Evacuation Warning

Because of the shifting winds, the Douglas County Sheriff's office issued a strongly-worded warning Tuesday morning for residents living from Perry Park to Roxborough Village to consider an immediate, voluntary evacuation.

LATEST FIRES AT A GLANCE Banty Fire Coal Seam Fire Dierich Fire Hayman Fire Long Canyon Fire Lytle Fire Missionary Ridge Trinidad Complex (Springer & James John)

According to the sheriff's office, although the Hayman Fire did not advance overnight, conditions Tuesday were "right for the fire to once again advance rapidly and unpredictably."

While no new evacuation orders were issued, the sheriff's office said that it was "highly encouraging" residents of all urban-wildland interface areas between Perry Park (on the south) and Roxborough Village (on the north) -- including Sedalia, Indian Creek Ranch, Oak Valley and surrounding areas -- to give serious consideration to leaving immediately.

That's because, if the fire advances quickly toward the homes, the sheriff's office worries that an emergency evacuation order may not allow enough time for people to leave in an orderly manner, without getting caught in a panic and in inevitable traffic jams.

FOREST FIRE LINKS Current Colorado Wildfires Clickable Colorado Wildfires Map U.S. Fire Danger Map Fire Maps Governor's Drought, Fire Report Current Fire Bans Fire Weather Forecast Be FireWise, Protect Your Home Fire Terms Incident Management Situation report National Wildland Fire Update National Park Service Fire Net Satellite Views Of Forest Fires BLM Fire and Aviation US Fish and Wildlife Fire Management Rocky Mountain Hotshot Crews National Smokejumper Association Fire Weather Forecast Maps for the U.S. FEMA: Fire Administration USDA Forest Service's Fire Sciences Laboratory USFS Fire News Colorado State Forest Service Intellicasts Lightning Maps For US Wildland Fire Assessment System

The fire is about 1 mile away from the trigger point that would force an evacuation of Perry Park, and 3 miles away from the trigger point for Roxborough. The trigger point is along Rampart Road. If or when the fire jumps the road, Douglas County officials will order mandatory evacuations.

Douglas County residents in the fire path were strongly encouraged to pack up important papers, a change of clothing, identification with a current address and any other items they need at this time.

The sheriff's office asked that residents not wait for an evacuation order to be issued to make these critical preparations. If an evacuation order is issued, residents, even with proper identification, will not be allowed back into their homes, Douglas County officials said.

Douglas County will use the reverse 911 phone system to alert residents if and when the evacuation is mandatory.

However, the system will not work if you have any kind of a "call blocking" unit on your phone, officials warned. That means if you have, for instance, a "no solicitation" message on your answering system, you will not get a call from the county.

Stay tuned to 7NEWS and TheDenverChannel.com for up-to-the-minute evacuation information.

The size of the Hayman Fire is still massive. The latest numbers updated at noon Tuesday shows that it has burned 77,000 acres, or the equivalent of the cities of Broomfield, Thornton, Westminster and Arvada combined. That's just about 2,000 acres shy of being the size of the city of Denver.

The fire has engulfed Cheesman Reservoir and is more than 40 miles long and about 10 miles wide at it widest and longest points, 7NEWS reported.

Several dozen structures have burned but there is no word if any of those structures were homes or camp cabins. About 6,000 homes have been evacuated and as many as 40,000 people are on standby for a possible evacuation today.

Because of the cooler temperatures, higher humidity and shifting winds, there were no evacuations overnight, which officials consider a very good sign. In fact, over the evening, the winds shifted the fire back on to itself and slowed its growth.

Officials say the fire is purely weather-driven and right now, their number one priority is to protect homes.

The good news for Tuesday is that wind speeds will remain relatively light compared to Monday, but unfortunately, the winds are erratic and could shift direction at any time, 7NEWS Meteorologist Richard Ortner said.

The blaze is burning in four counties -- Park, Douglas, Jefferson and Teller -- and is about five miles from Roxborough State Park, which Gov. Bill Owens shut down on Monday.

Investigation On Cause Of Fire

Investigators have determined that the fire, burning in the Pike National Forest started Saturday afternoon by an illegal campfire.

Officials have traced the origin of the fire to near Forest Service Road 290, northwest of Lake George in Park County, where there appears to be an abandoned camp fire.

A park ranger said that she saw smoke and flames and then saw a vehicle drive off. The ranger took down the license plate of the vehicle and has turned it over to investigators.

Owens told 7NEWS Tuesday morning that he wanted to increase punishment for those who started wildfires.

Roxborough Elementary School, which is on a year-round schedule, was closed Tuesday and will be closed Wednesday because of the fire threat.

Current Evacuations

For a list of current evacuated areas, road closures, and recreational closures, click here.