DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. – As Colorado fire crews remained busy over the weekend battling five different wildfires — most of those along the Western Slope — progress has been made on the fire burning closest to the Front Range near Chatfield State Park as evacuation orders were lifted in the town of Louviers.
South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) said the vegetation fire, now called the "Airport Fire" burning near US 85 had grown to 130 acres and was 90% contained by Monday morning.
- Denver7 was there when the Douglas County Sheriff's Office provided an update on firefighting efforts during a Monday morning news conference. You can watch it in full in the video below:
Speaking to Denver7 reporter Allie Jennerjahn for a live update on Denver7 News at 6 a.m., the lead spokesperson for South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) said there was a possibility the acreage of the fire would change due to better mapping during the early hours of Monday. Earlier in the day, SMFR said the fire was 140 acres in size.
The spokesman also said rain helped firefighters attack the blaze.
"We are at 90% containment and overnight we did have some good wetting rain that is going to help, but by far it did not put the fire out,” said SMFR lead spokesman Brian Willie.
Willie added there were a couple of flare ups spotted in some Cottonwood trees but “that was expected” and “no fire got out of the perimeter.”
Douglas County helicopter crews were expected to return Monday to battle the fire and Willie said those crews, based just a half-mile from the fire, would be doing drops around every five minutes.
"I can't stress enough that, had we not had that fire helitack team in the air within 10 minutes, this fire would have been far worse than it was," said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly during a Monday morning update as the county commissioner called on other metro area commissioners to invest in a year-round helitack team.
In an update posted to the social media platform X, SMFR said Monday's goal is to achieve 100% containment "with continued structure protection and strengthening the perimeter lines that have been established."
As for Monday's firefighting efforts, SMFR said five brush trucks would be deployed along with wildland crews from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and no injuries or loss of property has been reported, according to SMFR.
There were approximately 140 personnel on scene Sunday battling the fire and Willie said while they “won’t have those numbers” on Monday there would still be a “very significant number of South Metro crews on the scene today.”
“This vegetation was about waist-high — about three feet high — and that’s what they’re dealing with in the main perimeter of this fire,” said Willie. “This fire spread about six miles in length – not continuous – but it jumped and there were quite a few different spot fires.”
The Douglas County fire was just one of five separate wildfires, including the four on Colorado’s Western Slope which have burned over 6,000 acres. Three of those in Delta, Mesa and Montrose Counties are believed to have been sparked by lightning.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Sunday verbally declared a disaster declaration which will help free up state and federal resources for fire crews.
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