A wind-whipped wildfire west of Colorado Springs, spreading from Park County to Teller County south of Florissant, had burned more than 1,088 acres as of Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of about 100 homes .
A Lake George Fire Protection District dispatcher said the US Forest Service took over efforts to deal with the blaze early Friday morning. Helicopters dropped water on blazes on Thursday, the dispatcher said.
Firefighters worked through the night to try to contain the flames scorching across rough terrain, but high winds, blowing at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, made it difficult to put out the fires.
Authorities classified the fire as “man-made”, saying it started on private land along Park County Road 403, southwest of the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, then spread to Teller County.
Most of the evacuated homes are located along the front edge of the blaze near Divide, dispatchers said Friday morning. No buildings burned, they said, and no injuries were reported.
Forest fire map
Click on the markers for more details, use the buttons to change the forest fires displayed. Map data is automatically updated by government agencies and may delay events in real time. Incident types are numbered from 1 to 5 — a type 1 incident is a large, complex wildfire affecting people and critical infrastructure, a type 5 incident is a small wildfire with few personnel involved. You can find more information about incident types at the bottom of this page.
denverpost
