By NICK SMITH and CLEO WESTIN

The Gazette

Worsening fire conditions prompted the authorities to evacuate residents near Colorado 115 on Friday after the flames from an unpredictable wildfire burning south of Colorado Springs ripped through containment lines overnight and exploded in growth.

Located on military property, the 24 fire, as it is named, had grown to around 1,067 acres with no containment, according to a late Friday afternoon update from Fort Carson Public Information Officer Dee McNutt.

“The fire started on Wednesday and we thought we had a good handle on it and the weather took a turn on us,” McNutt said.

The blaze was initially contained at 50% and at 80 acres in size on Thursday, but it jumped over the line Fort Carson firefighters were holding.

Since then, about 120 firefighters from six agencies have tried to stop the fire from spreading west of Colorado 115.

“Our firefighters are some of the best trained firefighters in the Department of War and they are working hard out there,” McNutt said.

Aerial support also is dropping fire retardant and water from the Brush Hollow State Wildlife Area, according to McNutt and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The authorities issued a 2-mile mandatory evacuation order around County Road F45 west of the highway, according to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. A 3-mile pre-evacuation notice was issued for the surrounding area.

Deputies went door to door in the Penrose area to evacuate residents of the 50 homes and structures under the order. Residents, pets and livestock were sent to Pathfinder Park.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but McNutt said it began from something on the highway, not Fort Carson.

No injuries or structure damage have been reported, authorities said Friday.

Colorado 115 remained closed Friday between County Road F45, 3 miles north of Penrose, and Barrett Road, 10 miles south of Rock Creek Park, from mile marker 21 to mile marker 39, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Other blazes

In addition to the 24 fire, a 1,600-acre wildfire was also burning in Fort Carson’s training area this week. The blaze reached 100% containment Thursday afternoon.

In Costilla County, mandatory evacuations were issued for the Chama Canyon fire in an area southeast of San Luis near Chama, according to county officials. The wildfire broke out on Friday afternoon and grew to 117 acres with no containment.

Firefighters in Custer County were able to contain a fire to 65 acres on Thursday, which allowed evacuation orders to be lifted and roads to be reopened, according to the Sheriff’s Office. On Friday, no one was injured in a house fire near Silver Cliff that closed Colorado 96 for six hours.

No structures were lost in a 1.7-acre wildfire northeast of Beulah in Pueblo County on Friday after a homeowner inadvertently ignited the wildland with sparks from cutting a metal pipe, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

Several other small wildfires broke out on Thursday and Friday across southern Colorado in Rio Grande, Otero and Conejos counties, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Soaring temperatures from the blistering heat broke record highs for March 20 in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Alamosa, the National Weather Service announced.

Winds were expected to pick up Friday night and become even stronger at around 3 a.m. Saturday, said Kathleen Torgerson, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Pueblo.

That is when, Torgerson said, there will be a “recipe for large fire growth.”

The weather agency issued a red flag warning for most of Saturday. Humidity levels will be around 3%-5% with winds gusting up to 35 mph, Torgerson said. The high is expected to be around 90 degrees.

The National Weather Service has a resources page for fire safety and preparedness, which stresses residents to prepare “long before” the threat of a wildland fire.

Firewise USA also provides information on what to do to prepare for a wildfire.