Dozens of homes were evacuated near Denver as a wind-driven wildfire flared, one of many in the western states where hot and windy conditions were making it easy for the wild land blazes to start and spread. The fire in the foothills about 30 miles southwest of Denver forced evacuations Wednesday affecting more than 100 people, Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink said. The Lime Gulch Fire in Pike National Forest was estimated at 500 acres, the U.S. Forest Service said.