The Goltra fire burning in Jefferson County west of Golden slowed down enough Wednesday afternoon for firefighters to get to 60% containment by the evening. The fire remains at about 200 acres after being sparked by lightning Tuesday.
As the wind decreased Wednesday, the fire stalled during the afternoon, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. The weather Thursday is expected to help with cooler temperatures and higher humidity, spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said Wednesday afternoon.
There were about 65 personnel and two helicopters fighting the fire, which was mapped at 204 acres Wednesday. And by the evening fire crews had containment lines along more than half of the perimeter.
“We’ve dropped lots and lots of water on this fire,” Kelley said. “You can tell just by looking at it that we’re in a better place than we were this morning. Winds have calmed.”
U.S. 6 will remain closed through Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden to Colorado 119 until at least Thursday afternoon, Kelley said.
The fire grew quickly overnight Tuesday fueled by down-canyon winds, which continued to be an issue Wednesday morning. Lightning is confirmed as the cause of the fire — “we are very confident this was Mother Nature,” Kelley said.
Resources for Thursday should remain the same, she said, with firefighters on the ground but the two helicopters will be on standby.
Kelley said the “good thing” is unlike earlier this month when three wildfires were burning along the Front Range, they are not competing for resources this time.
The area, much like the Quarry fire that burned 578 acres this month in Jefferson County, is very rocky and steep and again home to rattlesnakes, she said.
The Goltra fire started near tunnel 1 in Clear Creek Canyon Tuesday afternoon and, pushed by winds, burned down to U.S. 6 overnight. Crews kept it from jumping the road, she said.
“It started at the top and worked its way to the road last night,” Kelley said. “They actually held it at the road, so when the road is reopened you’ll see the fire made it all the way down during those heavy gusts that we got.”
Ground crews burned backfires starting at the road and burn up to the fire, she said. No structures are in the way of the fire.
Tuesday evening before the winds, the sheriff’s office said the fire was about 10 acres.
The fire is burning near land once owned by Chicago businessman O.R. Goltra, who planned a gravel mine near tunnel 1 but later sold thousands of acres into a land trust, according to Colorado Open Lands. Goltra died earlier this year.
This is a developing story that will be updated.