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Alexander Mountain Fire in Colorado grows to over 1,800 acres Tuesday morning

Alexander Mountain Fire grows slowly to around 990 acres on second day
Alexander Mountain Fire grows slowly to around 990 acres on second day 05:16

The Alexander Mountain Fire in Larimer County grew slowly overnight but then doubled in size Tuesday to over 1,800 acres on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The fire forced evacuations in Big Thompson Valley on Monday. What was initially reported at about 100 acres around 10:30 a.m. that day grew to 365 acres in a few hours and then 950 acres by the evening with 0% containment.

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CBS

Tuesday morning, Copter4 flew over the fire and captured images of the blaze on U.S. Forest Service land.

The fire is currently about 20 miles west of Loveland.

CBS News Colorado's weather team is keeping a close eye on the wind Tuesday. They say its slow speed is what helped keep the fire from spreading and people can expect winds around 5 mph in the morning, but expect it to pick up to 10 to 20 mph Tuesday evening, which could cause the fire to spread.

An overnight evacuation center was set up at Foundations Church 1380 Denver Avenue in Loveland by the American Red Cross. Namaqua Elementary School, which had been set up for evacuees during the day, closed before daybreak. The Estes Park Events Complex in Estes Park, at 1125 Rooftop Way is also open overnight for evacuees. The evacuation location for animals is The Ranch, at 5290 Arena Circle in Loveland.

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CBS

A map of the evacuation zone can be seen here:

For live updates from the county, you can text LCEVAC to 888777.

CBS News also has an interactive wildfire map that shows wildfires across the U.S. You can find that here.  

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