‘Rock Creek’ fire near Cheyenne Mountain State Park, 80% contained
Editor's note: Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently announced that the fire had been extinguished. Colorado Springs and the Fire Department have since clarified that the fire is not out, but is 30% contained.
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO) has lifted a pre-evacuation warning as of 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 8. The order included a one-and-a-half-mile radius of Rock Creek Canyon Road due to a fire one-third of a mile north of 1350 Rock Creek Canyon Road.
Officials confirm that the fire was 80% contained as of 1:20 p.m. on July 10. According to EPSO, crews will remain on scene to prevent reignition throughout the contained area.
The EPSO and the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) say that, despite requests against doing so, someone flew a drone over the fire site as of 10:50 a.m. Wednesday morning. Officials asked whoever was flying the drone to land it immediately, as it hindered air operations.
The EPSO told everyone in the area to be prepared to leave and to evacuate if they felt they were in danger.
EPSO estimates the fire is approximately 1.5 acres as of 10 a.m. July 8.
A KRDO 13 crew was at the intersection of Pawnee and Comanche Avenues, where flames and smoke could occasionally be seen on a ridge overlooking a mobile home park and approximately 25 homes near the Pike National Forest.
Authorities with the U.S. Forest Service and Southwestern Highway 115 Fire spent the night monitoring the fire's activity.
"It's (was) just too dark for anyone to fly back there, or get a crew back there," said Clark Gaddie, a spokesman for SW Hwy 115 Fire. "I (was) sitting here all night, watching it to make sure it (didn't) go anywhere. In the morning, we (got) some crews out here, and some helicopters. The terrain is steep and rugged back there. We're worried about how the wind may affect the fire."
He said that lightning likely sparked the fire, though authorities had yet to announce the official cause by noon Wednesday.
"I saw the lightning strike in that exact area," said neighbor Brody Nimmons." We were watching it. That was the scary part — it shook the whole house."
In the meadow at Pawnee & Comanche, fire crews set up their staging area and used part of it as a place for helicopters to take off and land.
The first helicopter began mapping the fire around 9 a.m and two helicopters performed drops with water from nearby reservoirs before stopping around 12:30 p.m.
Neighbors were in good spirits, given the situation -- with many pulling out lawn chairs to sit and watch the activity.
There was more anxiety overnight, however, as the fire slowly burned above them.
"We had meetings at 2:30 this morning," said Judy Schewitzer. "This neighbor, that neighbor, that neighbor. What were we talking about? The fire and what we needed to do."
Her next-door neighbor echoed that sentiment.
With the fires in the past, and this, kind of concerned," said Cara Vandiver. "I have service dogs, so their stuff is in the freezer, waiting for the last minute to pack the food up."
Authorities thanked their partners for being able to provide resources for the fire despite the much larger Aspen Acres Fire burning in Pueblo and Custer Counties for the second week.
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