DENVER -- U.S. Attorney John Suthers announced new and more serious against U.S. National Forest Service employee Terry Barton Wednesday afternoon in connection with the start of the Hayman Fire.

Barton, 38 (pictured, left), of Teller County, Colo., was arrested Sunday morning for starting the Hayman Fire on June 8.

A federal grand jury issued a four-count indictment against Barton Wednesday, according to the Suthers.

Barton was indicted on federal charges of deliberately setting the Hayman Fire, destroying federal property and injuring a firefighter. She was was being held without bail and was scheduled to appear in Denver federal court again Thursday.

"The four-count indictment, which was issued this afternoon, replaces the earlier criminal complaint that was filed earlier," said Suthers.

The forest service technician was originally charged with starting a fire in a national forest, making false statements, and damaging federal property, in excess of $1,000, officials said.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Leoni, Barton admitted starting the fire. Officials later revealed that they had doubts about her version of how the fire started.

Barton said she was burning a letter from her estranged husband within a designated campfire ring, where fires normally would be allowed if there were not a fire ban, and then tried to put out the blaze, according to an arrest affidavit.

On The Fire Lines

It is now Day 12 and the Hayman Fire has grown to 136,000 acres, or 212 square miles, according to Forest Service officals Tuesday afternoon.

In fact, the fire is so massive and moving in so many fronts that it was divided into three areas, El Paso County sheriff's officials said.

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

Firefighting efforts were split into two last week -- with one command center based in the north at the Douglas County Fairgrounds and one based in the south near Lake George.

Now there will be a third command center.

A third Type I fire management team will cover the area south of the Douglas County line and east of Highway 67. The location of the newest command center has not been disclosed.

It is just one more indication of what a monster this fire is, since fires rarely have more than one command center.

The eastern side of the fire is the most volatile flank and is currently less than 3 miles west of the El Paso County line, 7NEWS reported.

The blaze is about 6 miles north of Woodland Park, 15 miles west of Palmer Lake and Monument and about 10 miles north of the town of Divide. The fire perimeter is within 1 mile of Deckers, but that line has not seriously moved in several days, officials said.

"There's not much fire activity today," said Tony Diffenbaugh, fire information office. He said the fire did not move closer to the town of Woodland Park Wednesday.

Humidity levels increased overnight and assisted in slowing down the fire, but because officials worried that it would not stop advancing, about 2,000 people were evacuated late Tuesday night. That brings the total number of people forced out of their home to 7,500.

The good news is a shallow cold front moved in Wednesday afternoon. Although the fire zone will not likely benefit from any downpour, cooler, moist air and a shift in the wind direction could have the fire burning back on itself, 7NEWS meteorologist Marty Coniglio said.

The heaviest of the rainfall will be from Denver to the north, leaving the scorched areas of Teller, Douglas and Jefferson counties with much lighter rainfall, Coniglio said.

A red flag alert -- meaning high winds -- was issued for the day.

High winds coupled with hot temperatures and low humidity caused the fire to flare up again Tuesday afternoon -- eating up another 7,000 acres, 7NEWS reported.

The blaze burned through containment lines and ditches meant to encircle it, forcing officials to revise their containment from 47 percent to 40 percent.

So far, the cost to battle the Hayman Fire is about $15 million.

Late Night Evacuations

More than 7,500 people have been forced to flee, as their homes lay in the changing path of the Hayman fire.

Late Tuesday night, commanders at the Hayman Fire South Command Center reported that the fire crossed Highway 67 south of Trout Creek, and was in the area of Rainbow Falls Park.

That triggered the mandatory evacuations of Douglas County homes on the eastern flank of the fire. That area is west of Highway 105, bounded by the current mandatory evacuation area of the Pike National Forest boundary on the west, Tomah Road on the north, and the El Paso County line on the south. (For the complete evacuation list, click here).

Those subdivisions include Perry Park, Indian Head, Wauconoa Lakes, Echo Hills, Echo Village, Douglas Park, Hidden Valley, Valley Park, Vaux Ranchette, Mountain Ranch, Woodmoor Mountain, Split Acres and Emily Griffith Youth Center.

Emergency shelters were activated at Lewis Palmer High School, Woodland Park High School and Castle Rock Middle School to accommodate the thousands forced to leave their homes, Douglas County officials said.

The fire also jumped Highway 67 south of Westcreek and made a significant move east, heading into El Paso County.

That triggered the evacuation of El Paso County residents living along Rampart Range Road from the Douglas County line south. Evacuees were told to go to the Woodland Park High School.

An evacuee from Highway 67 told 7NEWS that he may have lost his house yesterday.

"When I saw the flames, I left," said Richard Barrington. "(I saw) flames 50 feet or 100 feet high." He said the flames were right behind his house when he drove away.

Extreme Fire Conditions Hamper Firefighting Efforts

The combination of extreme fire conditions -- above-average temperatures in the 80s, humidity levels in the single digits and very high winds -- did not make for a good firefighting day on Tuesday.

At one point, firefighters building hand lines on the southeastern side of the fire had to abandon their posts because the fire exploded again and was racing towards them, 7NEWS reported.

Because of the continuing fire danger, residents on standby evacuation status in Jefferson, Douglas and Teller counties were told to be prepared to evacuate immediately since mandatory orders could come down at any time.

Fire officials said numerous structures have been lost in both Monday and Tuesday's flareups but could not confirm how many and what type of structures they were.

So far only 25 homes have been confirmed to have been burned, but a complete assessment has not been conducted within the fire perimeter. Thousands of homes are threatened.

The Hayman Fire, named for the "Hayman" mine site near Tappan Gulch, at the fire's origin, started about 8 miles northwest of Lake George.

The U.S. Forest Service technician who allegedly confessed to starting the largest fire in the history of the state will appear in court tomorrow to face three felony charges.

Terry Barton, 38, told investigators that she accidentally started the fire on June 8 by burning a letter from her estranged husband.