Investigators say trash caused Colorado grass fire that burned over 1,000 acres
Officials say a wildfire in Colorado that burned over 1,000 acres earlier this week was ignited by a load of garbage.
The Dahlberg Fire caused the evacuation of 17 homes in Douglas County on Tuesday afternoon after it sparked near Dahlberg Road and quickly began to spread southeast, fueled by dry grass and high winds. Numerous state and local agencies and fire departments rushed to help bring the fast-moving fire under control.
Around four hours after it ignited, firefighters had the grass fire 100% contained, and the evacuation order was lifted. The grass fire burned a total of 1,081 acres.
On Thursday, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office shared that investigators determined the fire was caused by a hot load dropped by a trash truck. "Hot loads" refer to fires that spark when materials in a trash truck catch fire, smoulder, spontaneously combust or become toxic. They can be caused by items like hot ashes, motor oil or gasoline, paint and varnish, propane tanks, lithium batteries, cooking oil, and other combustible materials.
The sheriff's department also thanked the over two dozen agencies that helped fight the wildfire and conduct evacuations, including:
- Douglas Regional Dispatch
- Franktown Fire Protection District
- Castle Rock Fire and Rescue DepartmentSouth Metro Fire Rescue
- Larkspur Fire Protection District
- Elbert Fire Protection DistrictU.S. Forest Service
- Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control
- Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection DistrictWest Douglas County Fire Protection District
- Elizabeth Fire Protection District
- Brighton Fire Rescue DistrictJackson 105 Fire Protection District
- North Metro Fire Rescue District
- South Adams County Fire DepartmentAdams County Fire Rescue
- Aurora Fire Rescue
- Boulder Mountain Fire Protection DistrictThornton Fire Department
- Arvada Fire Protection District
- Pueblo Interagency Dispatch Castlewood Canyon State Park
- Douglas County Rangers
- Douglas County Public WorksDouglas County Animal Control
- Douglas Elbert County Horse Council
- Skyview WeatherCORE Electric Cooperative
- Mountain View Electric Association
- Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
- Douglas County Fairgrounds and volunteers for shelter supportAmerican Red Cross
