A second wildfire in five days at Aurora’s Jewell Wetlands Park grew to the size of a football field with flames reaching 20 feet before firefighters gained containment Friday afternoon, officials said.
Aurora Fire Rescue and South Metro Fire Rescue crews responded to a in the park near the intersection of East Jewell Avenue and South Potomac Street at around 2:15 p.m.
Firefighter found a large plume of smoke in the center of the park and worked to create a fire break to prevent the fire from moving toward nearby homes, Aurora officials said.
A brush tender was temporarily stuck in sand, hampering progress on containing the fire, but fire crews contained the flames by 3:44 p.m.
Friday’s wildfire, along with two that sparked within minutes of each other in the park and at a south Aurora open space near the 8000 block of South Kewaumee Street, are under investigation.
No evacuations were needed before the fire was contained, and no injuries or structure damage was reported.
The park is closed and fire crews will remain on scene for the next two days to monitor and extinguish any hot spots. People living near the park should avoid spending a lot of time outside and keep their windows closed because of heavy smoke in the area.
