DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Crews in Douglas County continued battling the Airport Fire on Monday, which has burned 130 acres and is 90% contained.
The fire sparked near Louviers, an unincorporated part of Douglas County, forcing evacuations Sunday, which were later lifted.
On Monday, Denver7 heard from leaders with South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) and Douglas County regarding the firefight and resources they used to battle the blaze.
"We are very fortunate that this fire did not spread more quickly. We are also fortunate that Douglas County has a helitack fire helicopter that is on standby. That helicopter was in the air within 10 minutes of this fire going out. Had that resource not been available, we might be having a much different press conference today," said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly. "I applaud the efforts of the South Metro Fire Rescue and our other fire agencies that responded. Again, this fire could have been much worse than it was."
The Douglas County sheriff stressed the importance of the helitack helicopter. The county recently signed a $1.8 million contract to ensure year-round access.
"We are the only county in the state of Colorado that has year-round helitack support for the benefit of Colorado and our community," said Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon. "The sheriff said it accurately, that this could have been catastrophic and decimate people, pets, property and structures for years to come."
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According to officials, the helicopter dropped 88 tank loads of water on the Airport Fire Sunday, which equated to more than 26,000 gallons of water.
"For any county that could have faced a situation like this, if you don't have a helicopter, you're dead in the water," said Laydon. "It came right up to structures in many places."
That was nearly the case for Steve Williams, a longtime Louviers resident.
"The first thing I heard, a neighbor called me and said there was a fire right north of town," he said. "I went outside, and sure enough, big fire. I really wasn't aware of it at the very beginning."
"It came real close to my property," Williams added.
Williams told Denver7 he decided not to leave his property Sunday, but was watching the fire closely, more so worried for those who lived below him and closer to the fire line.
"The houses that were really threatened were the ones down in the lower part of Louviers, at least initially. At first I wasn't too concerned, but I had such a great bird's eye view of the fire once I saw where it was going and how the wind was blowing," Williams said. "It could have gotten intense if the wind had changed, but it was blowing in the right direction. I was concerned for an hour or two."
On Monday, Douglas County leaders said they had requested the state's Firehawk helicopter for help fighting the Airport Fire on Sunday, though it was unavailable.
Denver7 reached out to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control regarding why the aircraft couldn't be used. A spokesperson said, "The Firehawk is currently in its required phased maintenance, which takes it out of service. The maintenance schedule is based on flight hours. The aircraft was taken out of service on Sunday and may be down for several weeks."
