Home which sparked Teller County wildfire was under foreclosure

DIVIDE, Colo. (KRDO) - KRDO13 Investigates has learned that the home that caught on fire in Teller County, which spread to create the Highland Lakes wildfire, was under foreclosure and would soon be up for auction.

The Teller County Public Trustees Office confirmed to KRDO13 Investigates that the home at 13 Beaver Lake Circle was set for auction on November 13. The Public Trustees Office did not confirm anything about the fire.

This week the Teller County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) stated that the house fire was the root cause of the wildfire, which ultimately endangered about 700 homes, and left over 2,000 people fleeing the area.

TCSO also stated the house fire was human-caused, and still remains under investigation.

TCSO officials have said they are in contact with the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office on potential criminal charges for the person(s) responsible. TCSO also says, however, that the fire investigation could also determine that the fire was simply an accident.

Roy Sutton lives on Beaver Lake Place, which is right up the hill from where the house fire took place. He told KRDO13 Investigates that he knew the owner of the home that caught fire.

"We knew the one lady lived there, but we hadn't seen her, like me, literally I hadn't seen her actually in  probably over a year, so we weren't sure she was still living there, or she was renting it. But apparently she was still there," explained Sutton.

He explained the fire started just after 4 p.m. on Monday, catching him and his wife by surprise.

"We were sitting there watching TV, heard a big bang sound. I thought somebody dropped something out in front of our house or something. So then I went out the front door, nothing there. And my wife was getting up and [we] went out and looked at our backside, which looks down the hill, and we saw the house on fire and called 911 right away, but they said they'd already heard it," explained Sutton.

He says the house burned down within the next hour, and that he didn't actually know the fire was spreading into the grass and surrounding nature, since it was in the opposite direction from his house.

"It was all blowing, to really the east, away from us. We didn't see any flames on the ground at all. All we saw was the house burning and going down," said Sutton, who explained that within the next two to three hours, police and deputies were showing up and going to other neighbors' doors, where they were ordered to evacuate.

Sutton says it was a deeply troubling sight on Monday, in a rural neighborhood that takes wildfire risks rather seriously.

"[It's] scary because we always worry about it there," said Sutton. "There are actually three houses up the top of the hill by us and all three of us had our houses mitigated, just had it mowed down and all that stuff, that very morning, like 11 a.m. that morning," he later added.

As of 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Sutton and other homeowners were finally allowed to return back to their homes.

"We're anxious to get back in soon as we can. So that's all. We stopped by [the sheriff's office] as early as we could here, to check on things," he told to KRDO13 Investigates Wednesday morning.

KRDO13 Investigates tried to contact the person who is listed as the owner of the property through Teller County Assessor's records, but as of this publication have not been able to reach them.