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Happiness Short-Lived As Residents Are Forced To Evacuate Again

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - It's been a trying few weeks for Darrell Schoenig and his family after having to evacuate from the High Park Fire twice.

"The sheriff knocked on our door at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday a week ago," Schoenig said.

With fire creeping close the family packed up and evacuated their home on Red Ridge Trail. Then came some encouraging news.

"We were very happy Saturday night when we got the call that we could go back in," Schoenig said.

But that happiness was short lived.

"The sheriff showed up at 6 a.m. again and said, 'You need to leave again.'"

The winds shifted, pushing the flames closer to his neighborhood. Winds and hot weather are factors firefighters have been dealing with for the past two days.

"Mother Nature was pretty tough on us. I'm not happy about her behaving that way on Father's Day, particularly," incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said.

Getting a containment line and protecting structures are firefighters highest priorities.

"We're going to be aggressive when we can be, we're going to be patient when we can't be aggressive, and we're going to persistent to take this to a successful conclusion over time," Hahnenberg said.

Wildfire Resources

- Visit CBSDenver.com's Wildfire Resources section.

- Read recent Wildfire stories.

Wildfire Photo Galleries

- See images from the most destructive wildfires (High Park Fire and Fourmile Fire) and largest wildfire (Hayman Fire) in Colorado history.

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