The Carbondale fire that consumed more than 1,000 acres this week started with a controlled burn, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release this afternoon.
The fire started when the high winds “exposed the smoldering ambers below the surface of a controlled burn,” the sheriff’s office said. The embers spread and the winds fed the blaze.
The last of the residents evacuated because of the fire were allowed to go back to their homes today, the release said.
Several homes were damaged and one man was burned on his hands as the fire consumed more than 1,000 acres near Colorado 82 and Garfield County Road 100, also known as Catherine Stone Road.
At the height of the fire about 500 homes west of town had been evacuated. Most resident were allowed back in yesterday about 3 p.m. yesterday.
The fire was declared contained about 6:30 p.m.
The sheriff’s office cautioned returning residents that many tall cottonwood trees were burned and otherwise damaged, and urged people to careful around them.
“I would like to thank all the assisting agencies for their help over the past two days,” Ron Leach, Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District Chief, said in a statement. said Chief Leach.
Some 150 people and 50 agencies fought the fire; the cost is estimated at more than $100,000.
