LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: In Colorado, hundreds of workers are struggling to fight a blazing wildfire in the nation's largest archaeological preserve. Although they got a bit of a break yesterday with a brief shower and favorable winds, flames have consumed thousands of acres, and now the flames are threatening some of the country's oldest ruins. CNN's Catherine Callaway has more.</s>CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a part of the country known for its natural attractions, but not this, thousands and thousands of acres of Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park going up in smoke. The fire began Thursday, apparently sparked by a lightning strike. It's already consumed more than 20,000 acres and continues to rage. It's nipping at the heels of the nation's largest archaeological preserve, built by the Pueblo Indians, some of the ruins date back to the seventh century. Hundreds of firefighters are trying to battle the blaze from the air and from the ground. However, there is much working against them.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty much a good combination of about the worst weather conditions you can get for fire behavior.</s>JUSTIN DOMBROWSKI, FIRE COMMAND TEAM: Thick vegetation, very dry, very hot and dry outside, and then we still have a very steep, rocky terrain, making it really difficult to do any really good, effective work in there.</s>CALLOWAY: Working with the firefighters: archaeologists, trying to preserve what they can. But amidst the loss, a find, as the fire burns away the brush, previously unknown archaeological sites are being uncovered, at least a dozen so far. One archaeologist called that nature's trade-off. Catherine Calloway, CNN.
Colorado Firefighters Struggle to Fight Blazing Wildfire in Nation's Largest Archaeological Preserve.