Blodgett Peak Fire now 75% contained; neighbors worry it will happen again
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- Fire officials with the U.S. Forest Service are searching for the person behind the abandoned illegal campfire they say sparked the Blodgett Peak Fire.
Crews are still working to contain the fire, bringing in specialized resources to help, and containment is now up to 75%.
To many, it feels like a big tragedy is being averted, but neighbors say they aren't the least bit surprised at how the fire started. For others, it's a sight all too familiar, bringing back memories of the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012.
"We were actually out of town and came back early when we heard there was a fire on Blodgett Peak because it's literally in our backyard," Jeff Scharf said Monday. "I mean, that's half a mile."
Scharf isn't the least bit surprised that it was all reportedly started by an abandoned illegal campfire. He says there are always people in the park after it closes at 9 p.m.
"It just attracts a lot of folks, and there's just a lot of shenanigans going on here at night," he said.
The Pikes Peak Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service said that neighbors have been telling them all week about people not playing by the rules in the Blodgett Peak area.
"Campfires are not permitted in the park, nor are they permitted on the Waldo Canyon Scar. Campfires have become an increasing problem with a number of people using this area," Susan Ford, a representative for the Forest Service, told KRDO.
The area where the fire sits is on U.S. Forest Service property, but the parking lot and park area are within Colorado Springs city limits.
It's been nine and half years since the Waldo Canyon Fire, and nobody has been charged for starting the blaze. Scharf doesn't think the person behind the Blodgett Peak Fire will be caught, either.
But he's confident if the rules of the area don't start getting enforced, this won't be the last man-made fire at Blodgett Peak.
"I'm absolutely positive, it's not the last time, because you only have to walk about 100 yards into this place and you'll see fire rings," he said. "People think that it's dark and you can't be seen. [They think] It's a good place to be, but it's not."
If you have any information about who may have started the fire, you're asked to call the Pikes Peak Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service.
