A fast-moving wildfire burned across 2,515 acres east of Colorado Springs on Thursday, forcing mandatory evacuations and destroying three outbuildings before firefighters gained 80% containment,
Officials also announced they determined the cause of the fire was accidental.
The Meridian fire was first reported about 1 p.m. near Drennan and South Meridian Roads, about 9 miles east of the , according to the
County officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for the surrounding area, but most were scaled back to voluntary evacuations by Thursday night. By 9:30 p.m. all evacuation orders had been lifted and Colorado 94 was reopened, .
The fire was burning north toward Colorado 94, and it’s not clear if flames jumped the highway, sheriff’s Sgt. Kurt Smith said at a briefing Thursday afternoon.
“Right now we’re working on stopping the fire from moving and keeping structures that are threatened from catching fire,” he said. County officials initially estimated the fire was 4,000 acres but revised the size to 2,515 acres Friday morning.
No injuries have been reported, according to El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
The wildfire is burning near , but the base is not threatened and personnel were not required to evacuate, officials said.
Firefighters from El Paso County, , and Schriever are fighting the fire, Smith said.
