A fallen power line that arced caused a fire in Boulder County’s Rabbit Mountain Open Space late last night, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said today.
The fire was first reported at 10 p.m. Wednesday. It was fought by six fire departments and Sheriff’s Office personnel before being contained at about 4 a.m. today.
The fire burned about 13 acres of grassland.
This is the second recent fire in Boulder County associated with a power line.
The Olde Stage fire on Jan. 7 was caused by a cable line that was blown into contact with a power line. When the cable came into contact with the power line, it created an arc that showered the ground with sparks.
The Olde Stage fire burned more than 2,500 acres.
The fallen power line associated with last night’s blaze was owned by the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association.
Although the blaze was brought under control this morning, rangers with Boulder County Parks and Open Space along with a fire crew from the Sheriff’s Office remained at the scene extinguishing hot spots and securing the fire perimeter. They will return to the area, northwest of Longmont, over the next few days before officially declaring the fire “completely out,” said the Sheriff’s Office.
The department said that February was the third-driest month in recent history along the Front Range, and forecasters are predicting the same conditions this month.
Sheriff Joe Pelle last week imposed countywide fire restrictions because of the dry weather.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
