Trujillo Creek Fire in Las Animas County 100+ acres, evacuations still in effect

LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- On Tuesday afternoon, the Las Animas County Sheriff's Department and Office of Emergency Management provided an update on the fire burning seven miles west of the town of Aguilar.

Authorities said that the wildfire, now called the Trujillo Creek Fire, has reached over 100 acres with 0% containment.

The fire was first reported around 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 10.

Residents of Mauricio Canyon, Trujillo Creek, and anywhere else within a three-mile radius were told to evacuate.

Nearly 80 firefighters have responded, including a crew from Fort Carson and a Hot Shot team from Denver that specializes in steep, rough terrain where access to water is difficult; state resources are expected to arrive Wednesday.

"Lots of dry, hot fuel," said Joe Richards, the county's emergency manager. "The wind, fortunately, has been staying low but the humidity has been real low. I think we're around 9% or 10%. So that's giving us cause to caution. How did this all start? We don't know. There's an investigator here, but the fire's too hot for her to do the investigation. She'll probably come back in a few days to finish the investigation."

Richards said that the fire started in an unoccupied cabin along a gravel road, then quickly spread up a canyon wall to another unoccupied cabin -- destroying both structures.

"There are five other cabins in that area that we're trying to save," he explained. "We've done a good job of mitigation around them."

Some residents said that the owners of one of the burned cabins had nearly finished several years of building it and had planned to move into it soon.

Richards said that 12 residents initially went to an emergency shelter established at the Aguilar Community Center, but only four spent the night and no one was there Tuesday.

"We have the Red Cross standing by to help, if needed," he said.

Margaret Fodor, 81, is among the evacuees; she returned to her home briefly on Tuesday and is staying with her daughter in Walsenburg.

"I was in my house doing my daily work and two gentlemen from down the road stopped in and told me there was a fire, the neighbors," she said. "When I came out and looked, it was horrible. And I understand that one of my neighbors up there has lost their cabin."

Fodor said that she's no stranger to the destruction of wildfires.

"When I was eight or nine years old, my folks had a ranch around here," she recalled. "On Thanksgiving Day, they lost their big house. Six weeks later, they lost the place that they fixed up for us to sleep. I've been around fires but I don't like them."

No one does -- especially when they're flaring up so early in the season.

Further updates will be posted on the Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.