Firefighters put out blaze near I-70 in Colorado mountain community
Multiple fire departments worked for hours to put out a fire that broke out in a community in Colorado's foothills on Sunday afternoon.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office says a home, located on Willis Street in Silver Plume, was completely engulfed in flames. The fire was visible from I-70. CoTrip showed eastbound traffic heading toward the town backed up for over two miles after the start of the fire. Traffic has since been restored.
The house is located against a hillside. A neighbor who lives nearby spoke with CBS Colorado said, "The wind was blowing, so it was catching all the trees on the hillside on fire up behind all these houses. Things were happening so fast, I was just really concerned for everybody else's stuff too."
The Clear Creek Fire Authority, Evergreen Fire Rescue, Gilpin Fire Department, Foothills Fire, Clear Creek EMS, Central City Fire, Summit Fire and EMS, and Red, White, and Blue Fire out of Breckenridge responded to help bring the fire under control. The sheriff's office says Xcel Energy representatives also were on the scene.
In an update at 9:10 p.m., the sheriff's office said the fire is out, and crews are working on mop-up operations.
They reported that there were no injuries as a result of the fire.
The CCCSO warned residents that eastern portions of the county will be under a Red Flag Warning from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday. The entire county will be under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions from 11 a.m. until midnight. They added that the restrictions might extend into Tuesday due to expected critical fire conditions in parts of the county.
The neighbor told CBS Colorado that the fire illustrates what could happen in the spring or summer if the area doesn't get more moisture.
"I think everybody's worried about it," he shared. "With all these old houses here so close together in town, something like this; if one of these houses down here caught fire, I mean, this whole block would be going up right now. And it did back in the 1800s. It wiped out a whole bunch of town back in the day."
