DENVER (Reuters) - A raging wildfire at the Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado spread on Saturday to nearby Indian reservation land and was expected to keep growing as firefighting was hampered by uncooperative weather, officials said.

``With forecasts calling for high temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds, we're expecting another major run,'' said Justin Dombrowski, spokesman for the Bircher Fire information center.

The blaze was ignited by lightning on Thursday on private land just outside the park's northeast rim. About 750 visitors were evacuated and the park, a favorite of international tourists because of its historic ruins, remains closed.

Fanned by dry winds and fueled by tinder-dry juniper and pinon, the fire more than doubled in size on Friday and by Saturday morning had advanced 3.5 miles to the south onto the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.

Officially the blaze had consumed 3,500 acres and was 5 percent contained. But Dombrowski said the fire was active overnight and that officials expected size estimates to increase after reviewing morning aerial surveys.

Dombrowski said intense heat from the fire generated its own weather system. ``It's a very hot, very extreme inferno,'' he said.

Mesa Verde is a 52,000-acre park in the remote Four Corners area about 275 miles southwest of Denver.

It is the site of hundreds of ancient Indian ruins and artifacts. Two historical structures -- a cabin and a fire lookout tower -- have been damaged by the flames. The most spectacular of the cliff dwelling sites are not threatened by the fire, park officials said.

Archeologists accompanying fire crews on Friday uncovered more hidden Indian artifacts and sites on unmapped areas where the fire burned.

Smoke from the blaze had drifted over the nearby towns of Mancos and Cortez, prompting local officials to issue air quality alerts. Haze from the fire also settled over Durango 40 miles away.

About 354 local, state and federal firefighters were on site, along with aerial water tankers and helicopters to make fire-retardant and water drops into the park's steep canyons.

Equation:
Sunspots = Solar Flares = Magnetic Shift = Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents = Extreme Weather

Mitch Battros
Producer - Earth Changes TV
http://www.earthchangesTV.com