A wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 900 prisoners at a state prison southwest of Colorado Springs early Wednesday, one of four blazes across the Front Range that destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to flee.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Adrienne Jacobson said prisoners from the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility were taken to other prisons around the Front Range overnight. The evacuation was ordered because of the danger from heavy smoke, she said. The fire has not reached the prison.
“This was done as a precaution because it takes a lot of time to move the prisoners,” Jacobson said.
The medium- and low-risk prisoners were evacuated by bus, including 24 from an infirmary who were taken to a Denver facility to protect them from smoke, some in wheelchairs.
