LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As firefighters in Colorado struggle with a wildfire near Mesa Verde National Park, new fires, including a 3,000-acre blaze in California's Death Valley, have sprung up, officials said on Sunday.

Fanned by dry winds and fueled by tinder-dry juniper and pinon, the Mesa Verde fire covered about 6,000 acres and was about 15 percent contained as of early Sunday, the Rocky Mountain Incident Command team said.

``It's just too early to say right now when it will be contained. The fire is still spreading,'' said Brian Petersen, a spokesman with the command team.

Two historical structures within the park -- a cabin and a fire lookout tower -- have been damaged and numerous homes and other structures are threatened.

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. The most spectacular cliff dwelling sites are not threatened by the fire, park officials said.

The blaze, now burning on federal, private and Ute Indian Reservation land, has caused smoke to settle into surrounding valleys, and residents with respiratory conditions are being advised to remain indoors.

The fire 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 the historic ruins, remains closed.

In Southern California, firefighters battled a more than 3,000-acre blaze of unknown origin that started Saturday afternoon in a the remote Happy Canyon area of Death Valley National Park.

Temperatures in the region were forecast to reach as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday afternoon and officials had no estimate for when the fire would be contained.

So far, firefighters were being deployed by helicopter because of the rugged terrain, but 20 smoke jumpers -- who parachute into an area near the fire -- have been ordered, said Jim Wilkins, a spokesman for the Southern California Incident Command Team.

``We are competing for resources with about six other fires in the region,'' he said.

Smaller blazes were reported in the Sequoia and Los Padres National Forests in northern California, as well as parts of San Diego County, Wilkins said.

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

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