EDWARDS, Colo.—Fireworks may have started a small wildfire that came within a mile of some houses this week.
Fireworks were found at the scene of Tuesday’s 12 acre fire next to a road in the White River National Forest, Ayasha Eddins, incident commander for the U.S. Forest Service, said Wednesday. Eddins said there was “very good possibility” that they sparked the blaze but she wouldn’t say where the fire started.
Resident Bill Anderson said he found hundreds of firecrackers on the same road. Two weeks ago, Todd Williams said he called police when he heard fireworks outside his home.
Authorities have previously said they believed the fire was human-caused because there hadn’t been any lightning strikes in the area for six days before the fire started. Lee Ann Loupe, a spokeswoman for the federal Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management, said there were no suspects.
“I don’t think people realize how dry it is up here,” said Ron Braden, who lives in the Singletree neighborhood near where the fire burned.
It is always illegal to use fireworks on federal land, Loupe said.
Another small fire broke out in Eagle on Wednesday but authorities believe it was started by lightning.
In Aspen, two teenage boys have been accused of starting two small wildfires on Monday. Investigators believe at least one of them was started by fireworks.
