Firefighters put out grass fire in eastern El Paso County

Firefighters in eastern El Paso county put out a small grass fire Tuesday.

The one and a half mile fire burned near Highway 94 and Ellicott Highway. Firefighters think a car’s mechanical failure started it.

A red flag warning was issued for much of eastern Colorado.

“It’s been a high fire danger for most counties out here, so everybody’s ramping up for the heightened fire danger season,” Ellicott Fire Department Chief Nellie Roop.

Firefigthers responded to the fire within five minutes. Multiple departments responded, including Hanover and Peyton. Most were volunteer firefighters.

“I think the biggest challenge is everybody has their paid job that they’re at during the day, and so we really rely on our volunteers, the ones that can get off work and can respond,” Roop said.