DENVER – El Paso County Sheriff's officials say the 117 Fire in El Paso and Pueblo counties is now 100 percent contained as of 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
The fire, which is burning on the plains southeast of Fountain, started on Tuesday and exploded in size as strong winds fanned the flames. It remained at 41,000 acres in size by late Thursday evening.
The fire has destroyed nearly two dozen buildings and several hundred others were evacuated. Those evacuations were lifted Thursday evening by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
Fire crews continue to fight several other large fires in the southern part of the state, including the Trinchera Ranch Fire near the Colorado-New Mexico state line, which is currently 2,000 acres in size and 75 percent contained.
The Badger Hole Fire, east of Springfield, was also declared 100 percent contained by Thursday evening. It burned over 48,00 acres of land.
The map below shows the latest information on various large fires burning around the state:
Fire danger will remain high across much of the Colorado plains on Thursday.
