Lithium batteries exploding after a remote control plane crash were the cause of a brush fire on Thursday that scarred 82 acres, according to Tri-County Fire Department Chief Mark Stanwood.

A neighbor was testing the “experimental” plane when it crashed and ignited around 11:37 a.m., prompting the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to issue an evacuation order.

Stanwood told The Gazette he was unsure what was experimental about the plane and that the fire was ruled accidental.

The evacuation order briefly affected residents living on Big Springs Road, east of Calhan Highway, and the fire was near 31415 Big Springs Road, with flames burning between Yoder and Calhan, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Evacuation orders were lifted and the fire was fully contained by around 1:40 p.m., according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

No injuries were reported but several structures were damaged, though the extent of the damage wasn’t immediately clear, said Kurt Smith, a public information officer at the Sheriff’s Office.

Smith said that in the fall, the ground tends to dry out, and on a high-wind day, these fires can quickly get out of control. Stanwood told The Gazette the department’s fire season is typically late fall, particularly October, and late spring because of drier conditions.

Several fire departments responded to the blaze, including Ellicott, Tri-County, Limon, a wildland fire unit, Calhan, Simla, Falcon, Cimmaron Hills, Hanover and Fountain, Smith said. 

“Obviously, that is a lot of agencies that came out to help today, and we want to give a huge kudos to Ellicott fire who responded quickly,” Smith said. “When we get a fire like this and it does come in with that large acreage, we do request a lot of resources.”

A spokesperson with the National Weather Service office in Pueblo told The Gazette the conditions are not surprising given the La Niña weather pattern.

Winds were not strong enough on Thursday to prompt a Red Flag Warning, and those conditions are unlikely for the rest of the fairly dry week, according to the spokesperson.

Rain has fallen on three days in October so far in Colorado Springs. Currently, the city has 0.31 inches of precipitation, less than half of the normal October total of 0.77 inches. No rain has been recorded since Oct. 15, according to NWS data.