(EAST BATON ROUGE, La.) — A 6-month-old boy died after being left for hours in a hot car in Louisiana, authorities said.
The baby was found dead in the backseat by his parent at about 5:46 p.m. Tuesday, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
When the parent went to pick up the baby from day care after work, they realized they forgot to drop him off at day care that morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — reached a scorching 112 degrees in Baton Rouge on Tuesday.
The investigation is ongoing. The coroner will conduct an autopsy to determine how long the baby was in the car, according to the sheriff’s office.
At least 16 children have died in hot cars across the U.S. so far this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
Since 1990, at least 1,100 children have died in hot cars — and about 88% of those kids were 3 years old or younger, according to KidsAndCars.org.
Click here for hot car safety tips to keep in mind this summer.
(NEW YORK) — A Missouri woman is suing a Kansas hospital where she says she was denied an emergency abortion after she went into premature labor at 18 weeks of pregnancy, alleging she was denied emergency health-stabilizing care.
The lawsuit comes a year after a government investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that hospitals in Missouri and Kansas violated federal law when they refused to provide Mylissa Farmer with abortion care.
Farmer is now suing the University of Kansas Health System and the hospital authority that governs it under a law — Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, EMTALA — that federally mandates emergency stabilizing care for all patients in hospitals funded by Medicare.
In a lawsuit, Farmer alleged that she suffered preterm premature rupture of membranes — when a pregnant woman’s water breaks before the pregnancy is viable — in August 2022 and she had lost all her amniotic fluid by the time she arrived at the Kansas Hospital. She alleges she had been sent to the hospital after being turned away from a Missouri hospital due to the state’s abortion ban.
Without treatment, she was at risk of severe blood loss, sepsis, loss of fertility and death, according to the suit.
Farmer alleged that physicians at the hospital “refused to perform even routine emergency checks such as taking Ms. Farmer’s temperature and assessing per pain,” according to the lawsuit.
Physicians at the hospital told her of the risks she faced without an emergency abortion, but still turned her away without any treatment, Farmer alleged.
Farmer got abortion care two days later in Illinois, but her prolonged miscarriage “caused extensive damage to her health,” according to the suit.
She is seeking a “declaration that the hospital violated federal and Kansas law by turning her away and financial compensation for the harm she suffered,” the National Women’s Law Center, which is representing her, said in a statement.
“What happened to me should never happen to anyone. Denying me care not only put my life at risk but inflicted irreparable trauma, physical and mental suffering, and financial hardship on me and my husband,” Farmer said in a statement Tuesday.
Farmer “continues to suffer physically, psychologically, and financially as a result of her ordeal. Her doctor believes the trauma from the denial of care exacerbated a chronic illness, for which she has been hospitalized several times since TUKH’s denial of care,” the lawsuit said.
“The psychological and physical manifestations of the trauma Ms. Farmer suffered ultimately prevented her from working for many months. Without the ability to earn wages, Ms. Farmer lost the home she owned,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that blocked Idaho’s ban on abortions in cases where there is a threat to the health of the mother. The case was the first time the court has weighed in on a state abortion law since it overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.
The University of Kansas Health System told ABC News it “has not seen the lawsuit and don’t want to comment on something we’ve not had the opportunity to review.”
But in a statement following last year’s complaint, the hospital said it was following policy.
“It met the standard of care based upon the facts known at the time, and complied with all applicable law,” according to the statement, adding that it will “respect” the government’s process on the complaint.
(NEW YORK) — Ashley Benefield, the woman at the center of the “Black Swan” murder trial, was convicted of manslaughter on Tuesday night.
The jury in the trial of the ballerina who had been accused of killing her husband, Doug Benefield, returned its verdict late Tuesday night in a Florida courtroom.
She faces up to 30 years in prison. Her sentencing date has yet to be determined.
Ashley Benefield’s attorney argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship, stating that Doug Benefield was a manipulative, controlling and abusive man. She had argued she killed her husband in self-defense. Prosecutors had accused Ashley of wanting sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson.
“This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother,” prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell said. “Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense.”
According to court documents filed by the defense, Ashley claims Doug struck her in an incident on Sept. 27, 2020, hitting her on the side of her head, and then tried to keep her from leaving the room.
Ashley claims she feared for her life, shot Doug multiple times in self-defense, and then ran to her neighbor’s house.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A 43-year-old man on his way to evening prayers at a Philadelphia mosque Tuesday was shot multiple times and killed in what police called an “execution-type homicide.”
A suspect remains at large, police said. A motive is not yet known.
Police responded to reports of gunfire and a shooting on the 1500 block of Germantown Avenue shortly before 5 p.m. ET, authorities said.
The victim was found lying in the parking lot of the mosque suffering from multiple gunshot wounds — including several to his chest and torso and at least one to his head, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Police rushed the victim to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, he said.
The shooter, who was wearing dark-colored clothing, fled the parking lot and got into a vehicle, Small said.
Surveillance footage captured the shooting in the parking lot, Small said.
“You can clearly see our victim walking to this mosque for a prayer service. He was walking with another male. You see the shooter run up behind the victim, and from just a few feet away, begin firing shots,” Small said during a press briefing.
The shooter continued firing after the victim collapsed onto the parking lot, Small said.
“Our victim clearly appears to be the intended target,” he said.
The name of the victim has not been released. The man the victim was walking with was uninjured, police said.
Seventeen spent shell casings were found at the scene, fired from a large caliber semi-automatic weapon, Small said.
The suspect vehicle is believed to be a dark-colored sedan with a replacement or donut tire on the right front passenger side, Small said.
Police will be reviewing other surveillance cameras in the area and have found several witnesses to the shooting, Small said.
There is a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction, police said.
(NEW YORK) — The sheriff for Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, which employed the former deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home earlier this month after she called 911 to report a possible intruder, said during public comments Monday night that they had “failed” her.
“Sonya Massey – I speak her name and I’ll never forget it,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said during a “Community Healing & Listening Session” Monday night at Union Baptist Church in Springfield. “She called for help and we failed. That’s all she did: call for help.”
“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Campbell continued. “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”
Sean Grayson, the now-former deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home on July 6 while responding to her 911 call, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct in Massey’s death, and remains in custody.
Many attending Monday’s gathering applauded Campbell’s comments, but some expressed fear and outrage concerning law enforcement and community relations in the area.
“I live alone, and even though I already preferred not to call the police, I’m definitely not calling the police now,” Sierra Helmer, a Springfield resident, said Monday. “If I do need help, I should be able to call the police. Police officers are meant to protect and serve, but here in Springfield, apparently, and shown on camera, they harassed and unfortunately kill. Sonya’s tragic death has sparked an outrage in me as a single Black woman who was raised by a Black woman and having many other Black women raise me.”
Helmer’s comments also were met with applause and some cheers from community members.
“I asked Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness,” Campbell said. “I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better, to be better.”
“We will probably never know why he did what he did,” Campbell continued, referring to Grayson, “but I’m committed to providing the best service we can to all of you.”
Campbell also said Monday night that he will not resign his position.
“I cannot step down,” he said. “I will not abandon the sheriff’s office at its most critical moment. That will solve nothing. The incident will remain.”
Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call on July 6 reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage released last week and reviewed by ABC News shows Massey, who was unarmed, telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then shouts at Massey and threatens to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, at which time Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. He was fired from his position with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day the charges were filed against him.
Massey family attorney Ben Crump has said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting. However, Chicago ABC station WLS-TV reported last week that the Justice Department told them in a statement that it “is aware of and assessing the circumstances surrounding the tragic officer-involved death of Ms. Sonya Massey and extends condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Grayson himself has a history of problematic behavior. Prior to his time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
James Wilburn, Massey’s father, criticized Sheriff Campbell for his role in Grayson’s employment and called for Campbell to resign at a press conference last week.
“The sheriff here is an embarrassment,” Wilburn said. “[Grayson] should have never had a badge. And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”
(KAPOHO, Hawaii) — A man recently identified as a suspect in the 1991 murder of a 23-year-old woman has died by suicide, days after a DNA swab from his cheek matched DNA evidence collected at the crime scene 33 years ago, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Albert Lauro Jr., 57, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Dana Ireland, who had been kidnapped and raped in the Kapoho area of Hawaii Island on Dec. 24, 1991, according to police. She died a day later at a local hospital.
“This case is still under investigation. Albert Lauro Jr. has been linked to the victim by DNA; however, his exact involvement is still under investigation. And his death was ruled a suicide by the forensic pathologist,” Hawaii Police Department Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins told ABC News.
DNA evidence had been recovered from a swab taken from Ireland’s body, from a sheet used to transport her to the hospital and from a t-shirt found at the scene and was used by police to identify a suspect in her murder this month, according to Hawaii PD.
At the time of the murder, there was no match for the evidence in any DNA database, police said.
In 2008, the DNA evidence was sent to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California, and additional DNA evidence was collected from the T-shirt, which matched other samples from the scene, according to Hawaii PD.
DNA experts are now able to take data from a DNA sample and build a family tree based on known DNA from relatives. Earlier this year, an FBI agent from the Honolulu Field Office contacted police investigators with the names of some people who could potentially match the DNA sample — including Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.
Lauro Jr. lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder, so police surveilled him, eventually collecting a utensil that he had been using and then threw away. The DNA collected from the utensil matched the DNA evidence connected to the crime, police said.
The evidence established probable cause for the crime of rape. The statute of limitations for the crime had run out, but investigators were able to continue to investigate the case as a murder — though they did not have enough evidence to establish probable cause and arrest Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.
Investigators obtained a court order for a cheek swab from the suspect, then asked him to come to the station and talk to investigators — but he was not taken into custody at the time. After the swab was taken he asked to leave and was allowed to do so. The swab then matched the DNA taken from the scene of the crime 33 years ago after it was analyzed at the California lab, according to Hawaii PD.
“The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unwarranted search and seizure,” Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in a statement. “In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators would have to have established probable cause for the crime of murder and explained specifically what evidence it was seeking.”
“We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over,” Moszkowicz said.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — An Illinois chief deputy’s concerns regarding Sean Grayson, the former sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, an unarmed mother of two, are documented in an audio file released Monday.
The recorded 2022 conversation is with Grayson’s then-boss, Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller, who addresses Grayson’s mishandling of a traffic case.
“Seven months on, how are you still employed by us?” Miller said. Grayson responds, “I don’t know.”
The exchange centers around Grayson, who would eventually leave Logan County and join the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in 2023, being accused of violating department policy and submitting inaccurate reports.
Miller said he and Grayson have “had this conversation before” and called Grayson’s behavior “extremely concerning.”
“Just me asking you those questions, you got a report writing violation for policy. You got an accuracy violation for policy. You got a standard of conduct violation for policy and we’re 48 seconds into this,” Miller said.
Grayson did not receive any policy violations, as Miller put a hold on the report to discuss the inaccuracies with him before officially submitting the document.
Grayson’s integrity was also questioned.
“I’m calling you on your integrity. How does that make you feel?” Miller asked. Grayson replied that he was learning from it.
“If we can’t trust what you say and what you see, we can’t have you in our uniform,” Miller said.
Miller goes on to remind Grayson that “a lot of officers have been charged and end up in jail,” and reminding him that “official misconduct will land you in jail.”
Grayson’s application to Logan County, where he worked from May 2022 to April 2023, included a letter he wrote explaining and apologizing for his two DUIs, as they were flagged in the hiring process.
Grayson, 30, was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty to both charges and paid over $1,320 in fines and had his vehicle impounded as a result of the 2015 incident. In 2016, Grayson paid over $2,400 in fines, according to court records.
Documents obtained by ABC News from Logan state that Grayson resigned in April 2023. He began his full-time job as a sheriff’s deputy at Sangamon County three days after leaving Logan.
Grayson is now behind bars, denied bond, charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said at a community event in Illinois Monday evening, “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”
Grayson’s attorney has declined to comment.
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor on Tuesday said it was dropping its initial grievance seeking to have Grayson reinstated and would not be proceeding any further.
The audio file was released as Grayson’s employment history shows he held six different police jobs in the state of Illinois since 2020, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
According to employment records, Grayson was hired for his first known police job at the Pawnee Police Department in August 2020 and was fired from his most recent job as a sheriff’s deputy at the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department after the July 6 deadly shooting of Massey.
Prior to his time in law enforcement, Grayson was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
Grayson was discharged on February 24, 2016, after beginning service in the U.S. Army on May 5, 2014. He served for a total of one year, nine months and 19 days, Grayson’s certificate of discharge from active duty shows.
The U.S. Army, citing the Privacy Act and Department of Defense policy, said it is prevented from releasing information relating to the misconduct of low-level employees or characterization of service at discharge.
Grayson was a 91B (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic) in the Regular Army from May 2014 to February 2016. He had no deployments and left the Army in the rank of private first class, according to an Army spokesman.
Massey’s heartbroken family continues to mourn her death as they seek justice.
“Our whole family is in a disarray. The main focus of everybody is that this animal gets justice and gets exactly what he deserves,” James Wilburn, Massey’s father, told ABC News affiliate KATV.
ABC News’ Tesfaye Negussie contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of infamous Mexican drug lord “El Chapo,” pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges during his first court appearance since his high-profile arrest last week.
Guzman Lopez, 38, appeared in federal court in Chicago on Tuesday in an orange jumpsuit before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman for charges in an indictment brought by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
He could face the death penalty if convicted, his lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, confirmed to reporters following the court appearance.
His next court date has been set for Sept. 30. Lichtman said there is “massive amounts of discovery” to go through over the next few weeks.
Guzman Lopez was one of two top leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel taken into custody by U.S. authorities last week to face charges for their roles in leading the group’s vast drug trafficking enterprise, the Department of Justice said. The operation had been planned for several months, a Homeland Security Investigations official told ABC News.
Guzman Lopez and Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada were placed under arrest in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The two are accused of overseeing the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the U.S.
Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, claimed that Guzman Lopez “forcibly kidnapped” his client.
“My client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government. Joaquin Guzman Lopez forcibly kidnapped my client,” Perez said in a statement on Sunday. “He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head. He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin, and brought to the U.S. against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquin and my client.”
Lichtman told reporters there is no agreement between the defendant and the U.S. government.
“I know that there’s been a massive amount of rumors and things printed in the press,” Lichtman said. “I don’t know what’s real. I don’t know what’s not real. But it shouldn’t really surprise anybody that there’s a story that seems to be changing every few minutes.”
Zambada made his initial appearance Friday morning in El Paso federal court before Judge Anne Berton, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges in his 2012 indictment in the Western District of Texas and was ordered detained pending his next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, according to court records.
Zambada faces multiple federal indictments in jurisdictions across the U.S. for his alleged role in the cartel and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years. His fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
Guzman Lopez’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was charged last year with two dozen others as part of a crackdown targeting a global drug trafficking network run through the Sinaloa cartel. According to the charges, the cartel used precursor chemicals shipped from China to fuel the fentanyl crisis plaguing the U.S.
Lichtman currently represents Ovidio Guzman Lopez as well. The court discussed the conflict Tuesday, with Lichtman saying that both brothers are fine with him representing them. The government said they are OK with it as well.
Lichtman has also represented El Chapo and his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, in federal cases.
(LOS ANGELES) — Two men are dead after they fatally shot one another in an apparent road rage incident in Southern California, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
One of the men had his two children in the car — ages 2 and 5 — at the time of the double shooting.
“It could’ve been so incredibly simple, but unfortunately we have two people who lost their lives instead,” Mara Rodriguez, spokesperson for the sheriff’s department, told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
Jonathan McConnell, 38, who was driving a motorcycle, was involved in a hit-and-run traffic collision on the 210 Freeway with Aaron Harris, 37, who was driving a sedan, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
McConnell split lanes and collided with the sedan occupied by Harris and his two children, the sheriff’s department said.
Harris then followed McConnell off the freeway and into a parking lot. McConnell met several people known to him in the parking lot, according to the sheriff’s department.
Harris then stopped his vehicle and shouted threats at McConnell. When McConnell approached the vehicle, Harris fired a gun at him, authorities said.
McConnell then returned fire. Both men died after they were shot, the sheriff’s department said.
An unnamed adult male at the scene also received a non-fatal gunshot wound to his hand during the incident, the sheriff’s department said.
The children were unharmed in the exchange of gunfire, officials sad.
“We all get angry on the roads sometimes, especially these days there’s so much traffic out there and so many things going on,” Rodriguez told KABC. “But this is a great example of how things can go so wrong so quickly.”
(LOS ANGELES) — As the Park Fire in Northern California became the fifth largest wildfire in state history on Tuesday, firefighters were dealt a new challenge when another blaze erupted in Southern California and quickly blew up into a major conflagration, prompting mass evacuations, officials said.
At the same time, Colorado firefighters attacked the Alexander Mountain Fire that ignited Monday near the Roosevelt National Forest in Larimer County north of Boulder and quickly spread to more than 1,800 acres as more than 20 different state agencies, including 12 local fire companies, raced to battle the out-of-control flames.
The Nixon Fire
California firefighters were confronting 15 active blazes on Tuesday, including three that started on Monday. Among the biggest new fires is the Nixon Fire that ignited around 12:30 p.m. local time Monday off Richard Nixon Boulevard in Riverside County, northeast of the town of Aguanga, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
As of Tuesday morning, the Nixon Fire had grown to 3,750 acres and was 0% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Several structures in the fire zone were damaged, but it was unclear if they were homes. More than 1,100 structures were being threatened by the fire, according to Cal Fire.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents in the area.
At least 255 fire personnel, including 44 fire engine crews, two helicopter crews and numerous firefighting air tankers, were battling the fire on Tuesday.
The Park Fire
As of Tuesday morning, the Park Fire, which was deliberately started on Wednesday and spread through Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties in Northern California, had grown to 383,619 acres — which sent it leapfrogging over the 2020 Creek Fire, which tore through Central California’s Sierra National Forest, to become the fifth largest wildfire in state history, officials said.
The Park Fire has destroyed 192 structures, including homes and commercial property, and damaged another 19 structures in a path of destruction that started in Bidwell Park near the city of Chico and spread about 90 miles north to the Lassen National Forest, according to Cal Fire.
The monster blaze, encompassing nearly 600 square miles, was 14% contained on Tuesday morning, up from 12% on Monday, according to Cal Fire.
As more than 5,300 firefighters fought the Park Fire from the air and ground on Monday evening, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea issued a dire warning to residents defying mandatory evacuation orders.
“If the fire blows over, I can’t make any promise or guarantee that we can get up there to save your life,” Honea said during a news conference.
Meanwhile, the suspect arrested on suspicion of starting the Park Fire was formally arraigned on Monday. Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was charged with felony arson with an enhancement of special circumstances due to prior convictions. His arraignment was continued to Thursday, when he is expected to enter a plea. Stout was ordered to be held without bail.
Stout was allegedly spotted just before 3 p.m. PT on Wednesday pushing a burning car down a gully called “Alligator Hole” in Bidwell Park, near Chico, sparking the Park Fire, prosecutors said.
Weather conditions in the Chico area will be heating up in the coming days. The high temperatures will reach the lower 90s on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, temperatures are forecast to climb into the upper 90s and reach triple digits by Thursday and into the weekend.
The Alexander Mountain Fire in Colorado
Colorado firefighters were trying to get the upper hand on the Alexander Mountain Fire, which was first reported around 10:30 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The fire burning in a remote mountainous area near Roosevelt National Park grew to 1,820 acres by Tuesday afternoon and was 0% contained, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office ordered residents in the Alexander Mountain and Palisade Mountain areas to “evacuate immediately” as local fire crews and firefighting aircraft raced to battle the blaze.
“We are thankful for the incredible support and partnership from the community and partner agencies,” Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said of the multiple fire departments that responded to the fire. “The Larimer County community rallied in support of us today — listening to the evacuation orders, and pulling together in our time of need.”
Smoke spreading across the Northwest
The fires in the West are spreading smoke across the Northwest.
By Wednesday afternoon, the smoke is expected to remain heavy in the Northern California region, but farther east, it will be pushed south. Medium to heavy smoke is possible from Salt Lake City to Denver on Wednesday afternoon, while places farther north that have been under heavy smoke for days will finally get a break as they get rainfall and cooler temperatures.
Air quality alerts were issued for Boise, Idaho, and Denver due to the smoky conditions, officials said.
Red flag warnings signaling elevated fire danger were issued for at least Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.
