UPDATE: Strong winds reduce containment, double size of Gageby Creek Fire in Bent County
BENT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Authorities said Thursday that the Gageby Creek Fire, south of U.S. 50, more than doubled in size overnight and is now at 4,450 acres with containment at 40%.
The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control has assumed control of fire operations; calmer winds are expected to reduce the fire danger as the blaze burns near John Martin Reservoir.
Bent County Sheriff Jake Six said that the fire became more active late Wednesday evening and night, as flames spread out of the Arkansas River bottom and crossed railroad tracks.
Six said that the growth led to a four-hour evacuation of 200 people from a homeless facility in nearby Fort Lyon, and the highway was closed temporarily because limited visibility from smoke.
"Now that state resources are here, local (resources) are able to rest, replenish and repair fire vehicles," he said. "It's because of everyone's hard work that no structures have been lost."
Firefighters from Las Animas, Hasty, La Junta, Cheraw, Rocky Ford, Lamar, Prowers and Wiley initially responded to the scene; assistance also came from the Bent County Road & Bridge Department, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Also on Wednesday night, firefighters contained a second fire that burned 500 acres near the Bent/Kiowa county line, ten miles north of the Gageby Creek Fire; the cause is unknown.
Meanwhile, a La Junta firefighter told KRDO that 11 brush fires sparked in that area Wednesday -- one believed to have been started by a homeless person, and several others in highway ditches that could have resulted from discarded cigarette butts.
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Wind gusts of more than 40 mph Wednesday afternoon fueled an increase in the size of the Gageby Creek Fire to nearly 1,800 acres and reduced containment from 50% to 40%.
However, authorities expected calmer winds by late afternoon; around 60 firefighters responded to the blaze in Arkansas River bottomland east of the town of Las Animas and south of the intersection of county roads JJ and 19.
No structures have been threatened and there is no immediate danger or need for evacuation alerts, authorities said; but they added that strong, swirling winds have made the fire difficult to control.
"At this time, we have no intention of any evacuations," said Bent County Sheriff Jake Six. "The fire isn't going toward any inhabited areas at this time. So far, around 90% of the fire has burned on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property.
This is the latest and largest of at least three wildfires this spring that have charred areas of U.S. 50 between Lamar and La Junta; authorities say that the cause of the Gageby Creek Fire is unknown.
A helicopter and two fixed-wing planes continued to drop water on the fire from nearby John Martin Reservoir until they were halted by strong winds.
Bent County Commissioner Kim MacDonnell's home is fewer than two miles from the fire.
"Interestingly enough, the folks who are part of emergency management have just -- in real time, in the last few weeks -- have been working on Bent County's fire mitigation," she said. "So, it is important."
And she's not relaxing yet.
"I have my most important things -- except for my dogs -- already in the truck."
