DURANGO, Colo. — An orphaned bear cub that suffered painful burns to its paws in one of a half-dozen wildfires scorching Colorado is being nursed back to health, state officials said Friday. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers believe the bear will recover well enough to be released this winter.

“When the bear was brought in, I wasn’t sure if it was going to make it,” Michael Sirochman said, a Parks and Wildlife veterinary technician. “But she’s responding very well to treatment, and by winter we believe we’ll be able to return her to the wild.”

It was an encouraging bit of news amid an extreme drought and an outbreak of disruptive wildfires in…