A brush fire blew up this afternoon on North Table Mountain, consuming more than 175 acres of open space.
Three juveniles who were found in the area were taken in for questioning, and then released to their parents. A backpack containing fireworks was seized from one of them, according to Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokesperson Jacki Tallman.
Firefighters from at least 10 departments responded.
Three aircraft, a spotter plane and two small tankers, helped fight the blaze, which moved quickly through sagebrush and grass.
Jim Shires, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office said that the county’s incident management team was being called in to take control of the fire.
At least six homes on the north side of North Table Mountain were evacuated as fire crept to within a few hundred yards.
Residents in a new subdivision, called Table Rock on the west side, were alerted and told to monitor the situation.
Smoke billowed from the top of North Table Mountain, which is a geologic icon in the metro area.
“There are little canyons and hills on the mountain that winds go into and kick it up,” said Shires, “the biggest concern is the wind.”
The first call came in at about 12:30 to the Fairmount Fire Protection District, when the blaze was only at 1 1/2 acres. Nervous homeowners watered their yards. A number of residents in the area have horses and were seen hauling them out in trailers.
Dean Nelson moved his three horses to a neighbor’s because, “I just figured that we ought to move them before they get real crazy.”
Taking them in was Laura Sankey who said, “We just wanted to give them a little bit of a buffer from the fire.”
The Jefferson County Fairgrounds have also been opened up for horse owners who need a place to keep their animals.
Two 13-year old boys who live down the hill from the blaze said they were coming back from Water World when they saw the smoke. “I thought it was construction dust. I didn’t know it was in my neighborhood,” said Reed Kinney.
