About 600 homes were evacuated in southwestern Jefferson County after a wildfire ignited Tuesday night in Deer Creek Canyon, a populated area in steep, rugged terrain.
The Quarry fire was estimated to be about 350 acres Wednesday evening.
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Read moreA Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy discovered the fire in Deer Creek Canyon at about 9 p.m., said Mark Techmeyer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. It was burning on only about 100 square feet at the time, but within three hours it had grown to 100 acres.
Photos shared by the sheriff’s office showed tall, dry grass engulfed in flames along the road. Techmeyer said scrub oaks were flaring 30 to 50 feet up in the air.
He said another concern is rattlesnakes, as firefighters are working in an area known as Rattlesnake Gulch.
Techmeyer said no homes had burned and no one had been injured.
“We all know that we have two other major fires going on in our state, so resources are thin,” he said.
Techmeyer was alluding to the Alexander Mountain and Stone Canyon fires burning in northern Colorado.
About 75 firefighters are battling the Quarry fire from 12 fire departments. The sheriff’s office has requested airplanes and helicopters to help fight the fire, but it wasn’t clear if that request would be met. It also wasn’t clear if more firefighters would be able to join the fight.
Temperatures are expected to hit 98 degrees Wednesday, and “that does not help our cause,” Techmeyer said.
The fire is moving south, southeast, the sheriff’s office said.
Evacuations have been issued for five subdivisions: Deer Creek Mesa, Sampson, Maxwell, McKinney and Murphy.
An evacuation center has been set up at Dakota Ridge High School.
John Vierthaler, who lives in Deer Creek Canyon, said he could see flames approaching his home when the Quarry fire ignited Tuesday night.
“We saw a lot of flames,” he said. “It was very, very disconcerting. There was a huge amount of smoke.”
Vierthaler hasn’t evacuated from his home because it’s too difficult to get his five horses and two donkeys ready to leave. He’s seen an armada of firefighting aircraft battling the fire throughout the day Wednesday.
“It’s like a war zone out here,” he said.
Vierthaler said he and his wife have two pickup trucks ready to go should the fire get closer to their property. All of their critical documents and medications are packed, too.
The Quarry fire isn’t the first time the couple has faced nearby flames. They evacuated during the Hayman fire in 2002, but the blaze ultimately never got close enough to be a real threat.
Techmeyer said firefighters are keeping flames out of neighborhoods, but that the fire is encroaching on homes.
“Every neighborhood in this facility is at risk,” he said.
The fire investigation hasn’t really started, Techmeyer said said, but “we know right where it started.” He said the ignition source is suspicious.
Anytime you see a fire like that start at 9 p.m., “it makes you scratch your head a little bit,” he said.
Colorado Sun editor David Krause contributed to this report.