The series of fires that sparked Sunday near Chatfield State Park in Douglas County were 90% contained Monday, and all evacuations were lifted, according to South Metro Fire Rescue.
Roughly 130 acres were burned by multiple fires along U.S. 85 from Highlands Ranch Parkway to Titan Road to Kelly Court, South Metro Fire Rescue Chief John Curtis said in a Monday news briefing.
That includes 20 acres inside the state park.
The fire, named the Airport fire by South Metro, saw minimal growth overnight as crews worked to douse hotspots and protect the containment lines, the agency said in a Monday update.
Overnight rain helped put out many remaining flames, but the fire continued to burn inside the containment lines on Monday, South Metro Fire Rescue Wildland Operations Chief Ted Christopoulos said during the briefing.
In many cases, the fire came right up to homes and buildings in the area, Christopoulos said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but South Metro Fire Rescue spokesperson Brian Willie said multiple fires started along the train tracks, and a train was confirmed in the area.
No buildings were damaged and no injuries were reported, Curtis said.
South Metro crews first responded to reports of multiple vegetation fires in the 9800 block of Titan Court at about 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the agency.
The grass fires were quickly upgraded to second-alarm wildland-urban interface fires as they spread across open space and threatened structures, South Metro officials said.
“We are very fortunate that this fire did not spread more quickly,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in Monday’s news briefing. “…This fire could’ve been much worse than it was.”
County helicopter teams were in the air within 10 minutes, and deputies helped evacuate nearly 40 homes, Weekly said. State resources were not available because of the fires on Colorado’s western slope.
The two helicopters on scene made 300-gallon drops every five minutes and filled up directly from South Metro Fire Rescue trucks, Willie said.
One helicopter dropped more than 26,000 gallons of water on the fire, Weekly said.
“Wildland-urban interface” refers to the area where human development meets natural terrain and flammable vegetation, according to the Colorado State Forest Service.
Videos posted by South Metro Fire Rescue on Sunday showed flames swirling in funnels, a wall of smoke and helicopters dumping water on the fire.
Fire crews were also using bulldozers on the ground to create containment lines, fire officials said.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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