Paradise Acres – As the searing run of the Mato Vega fire slowed Wednesday, a homeowner approached crews working to keep flames from overtaking this neighborhood of neat vacation homes carved into the southern Colorado mountains.
“Next to God, you’re the greatest people in the world,” Dave Ellenz said.
Ellenz and his wife, Carolyn, who evacuated Monday from their summer home to a motel room in nearby Walsenburg, got a closer look Wednesday at the damage wrought by the nearly 12,000-acre blaze.
“I envisioned matchsticks, a clean burn,” Carolyn Ellenz said. “It’s bad enough, but I imagined worse.”
Favorable conditions for a second day allowed crews to make progress fighting the fire, which grew from about 9,000 acres Tuesday to 11,900 acres Wednesday. Containment increased from 5 percent to 30 percent, but fire officials remain wary.
“Even though it may not look very active, there’s a lot of fire out there,” said Steve Segin, a Forest Service public information officer. “This thing is not nearly close to being out.”
As crews raced to snuff out wildfires across the state, Gov. Bill Owens signed an executive order Wednesday prohibiting open fires and fireworks on state land and committed $3 million to help fight the Mato Vega fire.
“Many experts are stating this summer is starting to replicate the summer of 2002. We’ve already lost more acres this year than all of last year combined,” Owens said Wednesday morning. “So the message is: Be very careful.”
Elsewhere, the Bear Creek fire had burned up to 40 acres in Waterton Canyon southwest of Chatfield Reservoir as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, said Kurt Schlegal, emergency management coordinator for Douglas County.
The fire is believed to have been started by lightning Wednesday afternoon, he said.
Two helicopters made water drops Wednesday evening, and four firefighters were expected to be on the scene overnight. A Forest Service fire-management team will assume command this morning, Schlegal said.
Douglas County officials reported two other small fires Wednesday night: the Haystack fire burning on less than an acre near Perry Park and another, unnamed fire to the south. Both are believed to be lighting-caused.
On the Western Slope, the Lion Creek fire, which started after a vehicle rollover Tuesday afternoon, had burned about 1,660 acres, was zero percent contained and threatened numerous houses and outbuildings in Paradox, about 50 miles southwest of Grand Junction.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Moab Field Office said 17 engines, a helicopter, several air tankers and nearly 250 people were assigned to the fire.
Since the lightning-caused Mato Vega blaze erupted Sunday, the bill to fight it has climbed to an estimated $633,000, Segin said.
A total of 344 firefighters were on the scene Wednesday afternoon, he said.
An evacuation order covers 280 homes in the area.
Crews concentrated on the northeastern head of the blaze Wednesday in an effort to defend Paradise Acres from the flames. Two helicopters made water drops and a single-engine air tanker dropped retardant on hot spots, trying to smother embers before the fire could move into the 37-home subdivision.
Carolyn Ellenz said up to 25 people left the neighborhood, which is composed primarily of homes built on 2- to 3-acre lots.
Firefighters dispatched to the area Wednesday removed a woodpile from next to one house, laid out garden hoses in the event they were needed and leaned ladders against roofs.
“We do the types of things we would have to do at a structure fire ahead of time, so if a structure does catch fire we are completely prepared to go to work,” said Justin Meadore, a Colorado Springs firefighter working in the neighborhood.
U.S. 160 will remain closed between La Veta and Fort Garland for a fourth day today. U.S. 50 between Pueblo and Salida and U.S. 64 in New Mexico are the recommended alternate routes.
Staff writer Brandon Lowrey contributed to this report.
