Colorado fire forces evacuation of state prison

Raging fires have forced the evacuation of a state prison southwest of Colorado Springs, as evacuation orders continue to be issued to residents of Canon City.

The powerful Royal Gorge fire now encompasses 3,800 acres and containment is estimated to be "zero percent," according to ABC 7 News. 

Read more from GlobalPost: Colorado Springs fire forces evacuations 

Over 900 prisoners had to be evacuated from the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility Tuesday night, who were then transported to other Front Range area correctional facilities, wrote the Associated Press. The fire has yet to reach the prison. 

"The fire is burning very actively," said Gregg Goodland, spokesperson for the US Forest Service, said to KRDO.com. "Pinyon and juniper plus grass fuel types and we expect it to burn very actively over the next couple of days."

Three structures have been lost to fire but no one has been injured in the blaze yet, wrote the Gazette, which noted that wind speeds at Royal Gorge Bridge and Park had hit 30 to 40 miles per hour, with a temperature of 95 degrees. 

On Tuesday, mandatory evacuations were issued for 2,500 homes in the area northeast of Colorado Springs, and it was estimated that about 3,600 had obeyed the order. 

In Rocky Mountain National Park, not far from Denver, over 300 acres were burning, causing the park to close trails. 

Last summer's Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs killed two people and destroyed over 350 homes before it was successfully contained.