Snow blanketed the foothills and grasslands on a southern Colorado Army post Thursday where a fast-moving wildfire claimed the life of a firefighting pilot earlier in the week.

The blaze, which burned across 15 square miles of Fort Carson, was 20 percent contained. Two other fires in the state this week were 100 percent contained Wednesday, including one that killed two firefighters.

The National Weather Service could not say how much snow fell on the Fort Carson fire, but 2 inches had fallen in nearby Colorado Springs, about 60 miles south of Denver.

Pilot Gert Marais of Fort Benton, Mont., was killed Tuesday when his single-engine plane crashed after dumping fire-retardant slurry on the blaze. As many as 800 people were forced to leave their homes, but they were allowed to return Wednesday.

Marais, 42, worked for a Sterling, Colo., company that supplies aerial firefighting services to the Colorado State Forest Service. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.

The causes of all three fires were still under investigation.

The fire in Ordway, a farming community about 120 miles southeast of Denver, destroyed at least eight homes and prompted authorities to order all 1,200 residents to evacuate.

Volunteer firefighters John Schwartz, 38, and Terry Devore, 30, were killed Tuesday when their firetruck plunged into a ravine while trying to cross a bridge. It wasn't immediately clear if the bridge, damaged by the fire, had collapsed under the weight of the truck or had fallen earlier.

A blaze near Carbondale in the western Colorado mountains, about 120 miles west of Denver, damaged two buildings and slightly injured a fisherman.
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