Boulder County crews fully contain grass fire
At least four homes evacuated during blaze
Boulder County crews were able to reach full containment on a fire near Allens Lake in Altona on Thursday afternoon.
Four homes have been evacuated and more are under an evacuation warning, but the Boulder County Sheriff's Office tweeted at 5:30 p.m. Thursday that the fire was 100% contained.
The sheriff's office did not say when the evacuated residents might be able to return to their homes.
The latest size estimates had the fire at 19 acres. The only structure damaged was about 100 to 150 feet of fence, but officials said four or five homes were considered "threatened" by the fire at one point.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
According to scanner traffic, the fire started at about 2 p.m. burning through grass off of North Lakeridge Trail.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office tweeted just before 3 p.m. that the fire had grown to eight to 10 acres and that four homes had been evacuated.
At 3:16 p.m. the sheriff's office issued an evacuation warning for the Lakeridge Trail and Nelson Road area.
But while the homes were evacuated out of caution, the sheriff's office said no structures have been damaged yet.
But shortly after 4 p.m., scanner traffic indicated crews had managed to stop the forward spread of the fire and that crews had reached 75% containment. Crews reached full containment 90 minutes later.
U.S. 36 has also been reopened between Nelson and Neva roads, but Mountain Ridge Drive and Lakeridge Trail will remain closed. Heil Valley Ranch also has been reopened.
Carl Elgin, a Gunbarrel resident, said he saw smoke in the area while he was biking on Niwot Road.
"You see smoke and you get on edge, but I didn't expect it to be an actual fire," Elgin said.
Elgin speculated that the fire might have occurred because of the warmer temperatures today. The National Weather Service recorded temperatures as high as 81 degrees.
"I know we had the Marshall Fire recently, so it seems like they're happening more and more often," he said.
Mike Cain, who watched watched the smoke and fire mitigation efforts from Nelson Road near U.S. 36, said his mother was asked to evacuate the area from her home south of Allens Lake.
Cain used to live in the area himself and said he doesn't think the fire will be much of an issue as long as the wind stays down.
"This happens twice a year," he said. "It looks like they've got it under control."
Left Hand Fire District, U.S. Forest Service, Boulder County Fire Management, Boulder Firerescue,
Lyons Fire, Allenspark Fire, Hygiene Fire, Four Mile Fire, Jamestown Fire, Gold Hill Fire and Boulder Mountain Fire responded with 14 engines and three water tenders.
The Colorado Division of Fire Safety and Control supplied a one-seat plane and a helicopter. The Boulder Emergency Squad and American Medical Response also responded to the call.