Fire nears resort; homes evacuated
Gusty winds pushed a wildfire closer to Sun Valley Resort’s ski area while hundreds more homes were ordered evacuated in the valley below.
The fire has burned more than 64 square miles of spruce, fir and pine trees. Resort managers opted to run ski lifts -- not for people, but to keep flames from cooking cables that carry more than 200,000 visitors up the slopes each winter.
As the fire burned up the west side of 9,150-foot Bald Mountain, Blaine County officials expanded a mandatory evacuation order to the northern part of Ketchum, on the other side of the mountain.
Residents in about 2,000 homes now have been asked to leave since lightning started the blaze Aug. 17. No structures have burned.
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