FORT GARLAND, Colo. -- Fanned by 40-mph winds, a wildfire in southern Colorado doubled in size to 8,960 acres Tuesday.

Firefighters said 270 homes in one rural subdivision were under mandatory evacuation orders and residents of another subdivision were advised to leave, but not ordered to. Fire information officer Kim Pacheco said she did not know how many homes were in that subdivision.

Pacheco said containment was zero percent.

He said 260 firefighters were on scene and more were requested. At least two helicopters and one tanker were also fighting the flames.

The fire, ignited by a lightning strike and first reported at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, was burning in fallen trees, logging debris, dry grass and drought-stressed pines near Fort Garland, about 150 miles south of Denver.

Crews had hoped to use the main east-west highway across southern Colorado, U.S. Highway 160, as a fire line to contain the blaze. Firefighters burned vegetation along the highway late Monday as officials ordered mandatory evacuations affecting two subdivisions in northeast Costilla County and one in Huerfano County, fire information officer Steve Segin said.

In fact, everyone living within a 20-mile radius has been told to get out.

Crews focused on protecting five rural homes that were in immediate danger after they were pulled off the lines earlier Monday as flames as high as 200-feet swept across the area and jumped containment lines.

"We can't get out in front of this thing, it's moving like a freight train," Segin said.

The Mato Vega Fire, burning near La Veta Pass about 150 miles south of Denver, had been reported at 400 acres Monday morning but has blown up since then to 11 times that size Tueday morning, and then doubled in size again by Tuesday afternoon, Segin said.

No homes had been destroyed and no injuries have been reported.

The Red Cross opened two shelters for evacuees near the town of Fort Garland.

"It's got a long way it could go," said Karl Brauneis, a fire information officer at the scene, who added it was so dry that fine fuels such as twigs and grasses weren't absorbing moisture that usually help calm the fire at night. "The fire in the evening is burning right through grasses and it's consuming everything."

The Colorado Department of Transportation temporarily closed U.S. 160 between La Veta and Fort Garland about 3:15 p.m. Monday when a wind shift pushed flames toward the road. Wind gusts up to 30 mph fanned flames across some containment lines that had been dug earlier Monday.

Other Fires In The State

The fire burned as hot dry weather continued across most of the state Monday.

The Teller County sheriff said that Teller County is battling a wildfire near Wright Reservoir that started about midnight. The blaze is more than 100 acres and is about 30 percent contained.

Three homes have been forced to evacuate.

The Wright Fire was burning through ponderosa pines and grass in Teller County about 60 miles south of Denver. No houses had burned, but crews were trying to keep the flames from topping a ridge and threatening a nearby subdivision, fire information officer Ralph Bellah said.

Four single-engine tankers, three helicopters and about 40 firefighters were on scene.

"They're just really hitting this thing hard," Bellah said.

Northern Colorado is seeing its share of wildfires too.

In southwest Morgan County, about 1,200 acres of grass and pasture burned, Sheriff Jim Crone said. It was started by lightning before 4 p.m. Monday about 15 miles southeast of Wiggins and grew with gusty winds. It burned about three hours before being contained by firefighters from five departments, he said.

No injuries or damage to structures were reported, though some power lines burned. The closest homes were about a half-mile away, Crone said.

So far, more than 75,000 acres have burned across the state. Conditions are not good and remain hot and dry for the next couple of days, 24/7 Meteorologist Scott Mace said. Southwest Colorado is under extreme fire danger.

Temperatures will be lower Tuesday but it's not going to help with the rain situation.

"We are almost 5 inches below normal for the year," Mace said. So far this year, we've had 2.62 inches of rain but the normal rainfall is 7.52 inches for this time of the year, Mace said.

Crews Ready For Busy Summer

However, crews may be getting more efficient at battling blazes.

At a new tanker base in Broomfield, crews have made some improvements there that should help firefighters all over the Front Range. The facility comes complete with new slurry storage tanks, pilot quarters and filling facilities.

The air tanker base was completed in 2003, a year after Colorado's worst fire season. Crews can work year-round and the storage tanks allow them to mix more fire retardant, meaning more drops from the air tankers, planes and helicopters.

"You get them dispatched out and to get the information you need to send them out to fires has been a lot faster than the old days," said Mark Michelson, the base manager. "So there a lot of things that we've been able to do with this new facility."

Currently, there are 27 aircraft and 10 hotshot crews ready to go throughout the state.

"What we're trying to do is be proactive. When it looks like we have greater fire danger, we try to pre-position our air and ground resources so we can get on the fire fast," said Larry Helmerick with the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center.

An aerial attack can really make a difference. According to some estimates, just one drop from a small plane or helicopter is equivalent to three to four fire-truck loads of water.

Since 80 percent of the state's fires are human-caused, fire crews are pleading with the public to pay attention to fire bans and be very careful with outdoor fires.