In this photo provided by Jerry Day, an aircraft makes a fire retardant drop on a wildfire in the hills and forests near Durango, Colo., Friday, June 8, 2018. The blaze in southwestern Colorado forced hundreds of evacuations and was expected to reach homes by Friday, authorities said. (Jerry Day via AP) 
In this photo provided by Jerry Day, an aircraft makes a fire retardant drop on a wildfire in the mountains and forests near Durango, Colo., Friday, June 8, 2018. Authorities in southwest Colorado ordered the evacuations of another 300 homes Friday to allow firefighters to attack an advancing flank of a wildfire, known as the 416 fire, that burned miles of rugged terrain, but had yet to damage or destroy any structures. La Plata County’s latest order follows the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes earlier along U.S. Highway 550, a key artery connecting the cities of Durango and Silverton, roughly 135 miles (217 kilometers) northwest of the Four Corners Monument that connects Colorado with Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. (Jerry Day via AP) 
An air tanker makes a drop of retardant Friday, June 8, 2018, on the southeast side of the 416 Fire near Hermosa, Colo. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald via AP) 
Firefighters patrol around a house west of U.S. Highway 550 near Hermosa, Colo., Friday, June 8, 2018. The firefighters were looking for spot fires as flames from the 416 Fire approached the homestead that is well protected with a fire tanker and numerous other resources nearby. (Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP) 
Smoke rises from a stand of trees smoldering from the 416 Fire west of U.S. Highway 550 on Friday, June 8, 2018, near Hermosa, Colo. (Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP)
DURANGO |Â More people were ordered to get out of the path of a growing wildfire in southwestern Colorado on Saturday as ground crews contended with hot, dry and windy weather.
Deputies went door-to-door along a 2-mile (3-kilometer) stretch of county road north of Durango telling residents to leave, but fire managers couldn’t immediately say how many homes were included.
The area is about 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of Durango.
The Durango Herald reported more than 1,600 other homes have already been evacuated. Authorities said no homes had been damaged or destroyed so far.
The fire has burned nearly 14 square miles (35 square kilometers). Firefighters had built containment lines on about 10 percent of the perimeter.
More than 680 firefighters and several aircraft were on scene, and a Type 1 incident command team — assigned to the largest fires — took charge Saturday morning.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for most of Colorado on Saturday, including Durango, signifying high fire danger because of gusty winds and low humidity. Temperatures were in the high 80s in Durango by the afternoon.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also issued an air quality alert because of heavy smoke in the area.
The blaze started June 1 in the San Juan National Forest but the cause has not been determined. It comes amid a severe drought in the Four Corners area where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet.
U.S. Highway 550 north of Durango was periodically closed Saturday to accommodate the evacuations and because of heavy firefighter activity.
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Information from: Durango Herald, https://www.durangoherald.com
