JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Snow Creek Fire put the Jefferson County Community on edge Tuesday afternoon. The 2-acre was knocked down quickly by multiple fire crews and air resources.
Smoke could be seen from Interstate 70 and C-470, billowing from Mount Lindo. The fire caused officials to evacuate one home on the hill and sent about 60 others into pre-evacuation status.
“There are so many values at risk here, meaning people’s homes, people’s property, and people’s lives that we need to pound this fire and surround it as quickly as we can,” said Rhonda Scholting with West Metro Fire.
Scholting said that the strategy in these conditions was to keep it small. Their department called in extra crews to tackle the flames from the ground and the air.
“We call our wildland team. If they’re off today, they come in, so we don’t use the crews that are actually on duty, because there are still other things going on in the fire district. So like people, unfortunately, having heart attacks, having car accidents and there’s other you know, fires and needs. We have to put the resources that we can muster on this as quickly as possible,” Scholting said.
Crews reached the fire on foot.
“They hiked up there because that’s really the only way to access the fire. You cannot get anything with wheels up there,” Scholting said.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jackie Kelley said that a benefit to this fire is how close the water source was to the flames.
“So the turnaround is very quick, which is very good. You’re not always fortunate when you have a fire, and in the mountains, that can be some distance and time. So this is really great,” Kelley said.
This fire serves as a wake-up call for people who live in the area to be prepared for a fire all year long.
“[Tuesday was] a moderate fire risk day in West Metro, just moderate. So this is what a moderate day can potentially do,” Scholting said.
Although investigators were on scene all afternoon, there is still no word as to what started this fire.
