Spring Fire Grows To More Than 100,000 Acres In Southern Colorado

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LA VETA, Colo. (CBS4) - A wildfire burning near La Veta in southern Colorado has grown to more than 100,000 acres. The Spring Fire was listed at 103,357 acres on Thursday morning.

(credit: Costilla and Huerfano Counties)

The fire remains 5 percent contained.

(credit: Costilla and Huerfano Counties)

The fire has impacted Costilla, Huerfano and now Las Animas Counties. Pre-evacuation orders have been put in place for some homes in Los Animas County, and all previous evacuations remain in place.

It has destroyed 104 homes plus the outdoor concert stage used by the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad.

Dozens of evacuees are currently living in shelters set up by the American Red Cross.

Jesper Joergensen (credit: Costilla County Sheriff)

One man is under arrest and accused of starting the fire. Authorities accuse Jesper Joergensen, a 52-year-old Denmark native whose visa has expired, of starting the fire when he cooked meat on a fire pit on June 26. The fire started the next day reportedly feet away from the fire pit.

Libby Barbee, left, her daughter Emmy, husband Brandon Laird and father Ron Barbee, far right, holds watch the sun set over the Spring Fire on July 4, 2018 in La Veta. They are evacuees who have a family cabin in Cuchara. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

The large plume of the Spring Fire is lit up by the setting sun on July 4, 2018 in La Veta. (credit: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Tim Mathewson, Incident meteorologist, gives an update on the daily weather expected for the Spring Fire during the daily morning briefing at the spike camp on July 4, 2018 in La Veta. (credit: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

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