Firefighters from a dozen agencies were able to contain a wildfire that spread rapidly across southern Elbert County, and burned more than 600 acres near Simla this afternoon, officials said.
Winds of up to 30 miles per hour helped fan the flames that burned along Highway 24, three miles east of Matheson, Elbert County Sheriff William Frangis said.
There were no reports of injuries or structures burned as the fire shot in a northeasterly direction. When it was reported at 11:30 a.m., the fire was burning about 80 acres. Within 90 minutes, the fire had grown to six times that size, Frangis said.
“When you can go from 80 acres to 600 acres in an hour and a half, that’s moving pretty quickly,” Frangis said. “Those firefighters did a helluva job. There were no injuries, no structures burned except for, I think, some fence posts that might have been charred, but that’s about it.”
As firefighters fought that blaze, crews in Yuma County were mopping up after a grassfire that burned 23,000 acres outside Wray on Wednesday.
Two firefighters working the Wray fire were injured and hospitalized overnight, Wray Fire Chief Gary Timmer said.
Both firefighters were part of a crew that took on the fast-moving blaze head-on, and they suffered burns, Timmer said.
One firefighter was released today. The other firefighter was more seriously injured and suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hands and arms, Timmer said.
Timmer declined to identify the injured firefighters.
More than 150 firefighters fought the Wray blaze, including some from neighboring Nebraska.
The Wray fire, which was northwest of the plains town, was bought under control about 6 p.m., Wednesday, Timmer said.
The blaze may have been caused by a spark from an electrical transformer near a gas well, he said.
Today another grass fire broke out about 10 miles south of Wray along U.S. Highway 385 and burned about 100 acres. That fire was likely caused by a cigarette discarded from a passing car, Timmer said.
“It’s really dry out here,” he said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
