High Park Fire grows to over 1,100 acres, Commissioner Williams calls for state-wide emergency
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The High Park Fire, burning west of Cripple Creek in Teller County, has scorched over 1,100 acres and is at 10% containment as of 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the Teller County Sheriff's Office.
At a town hall meeting held at Cripple Creek High School Saturday afternoon, Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams called on Colorado Governor Jared Polis to declare a state-wide emergency disaster over fire concerns.
"His commitment was that he would get as much as he could here as quickly as he could and I want to thank him for that personally," Williams said. "I asked him if we would consider, at the state level, declaring an emergency and that would, of course, allow FEMA to come in here, and based on what we are seeing, we believe that is prudent."
No structures have been lost in the blaze and more than 10 separate agencies have responded to help fight the fire. Federal, county and state resources have been deployed.
Evacuation orders/Pre-evacuation orders:
- EVACUATION ORDER for Cripple Creek Ranches and Mt. Pisgah Area due to a wildland fire. Everyone in this area is ordered to evacuate immediately.
- EVACUATION ORDER for Lost Burro and Cripple Creek Mountain Estates west of Teller 1 due to a wildland fire. Everyone in this area is ordered to evacuate immediately.
- PRE-EVACUATION ORDER: Cripple Creek Mountain Estates
- PRE-EVACUATION ORDER: Rhyolite Mountain Mesa
The sheriff's office said the pre-evacuation orders will likely stay in place for the entirety of Saturday, officials said to be prepared to leave at a moments notice.
So far, downtown Cripple Creek has not been evacuated. However, the last 72 hours of fire evacuations across Teller County has residents on edge.
"We've got people in the community that have been up all night worrying, packing their personal belongings and stuff, and on pins and needles hoping that this gets taken care of," Phillip Hazen said.
There is a Red Cross evacuation center at Woodland Park High School.
