Wednesday was a wild ride for Colorado, as stormy weather sparked fires, grounded flights and struck down two National Guard airmen with lightning at Buckley Air Force Base.
A single-engine Cessna 182 crashed and exploded in a field near Quebec Street and East 124th Avenue between Thornton and Brighton on Wednesday afternoon, killing the pilot.
The pilot has not been identified. The plane was registered to an aerial aviation company in Wisconsin, and the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane took off from Front Range Airport in Watkins for a “local flight.”
While the cause of the crash is under investigation, witnesses cited high winds.
Catherine Von Axelson told 9News the plane appeared to be attempting to land when “all of a sudden, this great big gust of wind hit. His wing just completely flipped up and he nose-dived into the ground, and the plane exploded.”
The plane crashed at 3:25 p.m., shortly before takeoffs at Denver International Airport were suspended because of the thunderstorm and difficult wind conditions.
More than 20 incoming flights were diverted to Colorado Springs.
About the same time, Colorado Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Brian Nelson and Airman 1st Class Chad Thrane were hit by lightning at Buckley Air Force Base in east Aurora. They were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
A short time earlier, lightning from a line of thunderstorms sparked several small fires in northern Boulder and southern Larimer counties.
Most were extinguished, but one was still burning late Wednesday after consuming about 30 acres on public land near Coffintop Mountain. About 15 homes were put on alert to be prepared to evacuate, if necessary.
A fire near Blue Mountain in Larimer County was contained after it burned 5 acres.
In El Paso County, flames torched 300 acres of a Fort Carson training area where ordnance is detonated.
Maj. Ricardo Fregoso, spokesman for Fort Carson, told The Gazette of Colorado Springs that firefighting crews couldn’t go into the heart of the fire because there could be unexploded ordnance there.
Instead, crews fought the fire from the perimeter. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.
The fire risk was listed as critical for much of Colorado through 9 p.m. today because of wind gusts up to 45 mph, temperatures in the 90s and humidity in the teens, according to the National Weather Service.
Many fire-prone areas are under fire restrictions.
Boulder County has banned open flames and fireworks in mountain areas, citing “explosive” conditions there. Liquid and gas stoves, as well as fires in improved or maintained campgrounds, are still allowed, however.
The Pike and San Isabel national forests, as well as the Cimarron and Comanche national grasslands, banned campfires, charcoal broilers and coal- or wood-burning stoves, citing severe fire threats.
Restrictions include federal forest lands and grasslands in Jefferson, Douglas, Park, El Paso, Teller, Chaffee, Fremont, Huerfano, Saguache, Custer, Las Animas, Baca, Otero and Pueblo counties.
Wildfires in Colorado have burned more than 29,000 acres so far this month.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
