A fast-moving wildfire roared across more than 5,000 acres and forced evacuations for people living near Matheson on Colorado’s Eastern Plains on Tuesday, according to Elbert County officials.
The County Road 169 fire was first reported around noon and burned 5,599 acres of short-grass prairie and cultivated fields, Elbert County spokesperson Wendy Holmes confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
Officials previously estimated the fire could be as large as 10,000 acres and were not able to get a more precise estimate until Wednesday because of high winds grounding the airplanes that map fire footprints from the air.
“Smoke and wind are creating circumstances that make it difficult to get a clear picture,” Holmes said Tuesday.
Firefighters managed to stop forward progress on the wildfire near Colorado 71 as of 5 p.m., according to a Tuesday evening update from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
Fire crews from across the Front Range, including Aurora and Douglas County, responded to the fire to battle 35 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 55 mph.
UPDATE on County Road 169 Fire in Elbert Lincoln Counties
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ALL MEDIA SHOULD REPORT TO THE LINCOLN COUNTY SHERIFF'S SUBSTATION IN LIMON ASAP FOR AN OFFICIAL UPDATE (130 C Avenue, Limon, CO)
As of 1700, forward progress…
— Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control (@COStateFire)
Elbert and Lincoln County officials ordered evacuations Tuesday afternoon that included a handful of homes in the rural area. All evacuations were lifted as of 5:15 p.m.
Colorado 71 was closed near Limon because of the fire and reopened as of 5:20 p.m., according to the
Most of the Eastern Plains was under a with weather spotters reporting gusts up to 73 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Two hotspots in 3.9 Satellite imagery with one east of Matheson in Elbert county and the other southeast of Roggen in Weld county.
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
