Firefighters Gain Upper Hand in Colorado Wildfire

June 6, 2012
Families evacuated Monday in the path of the fire were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday night.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office issued an update on the Stuart Hole Fire on Tuesday afternoon.

Officials said the fire has burned 227 acres and was 45 percent contained.

Families evacuated Monday in the path of the fire were allowed to return to their homes at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials said two or three outbuildings have been damaged by the wildfire.

Officials said they anticipated cooler weather on Tuesday, but strong southeast winds of up to 30 to 40 mph could make firefighting difficult.

The fire started about 12:30 p.m. on Monday near County Road 82E and Boxer Ranch Road in the Cherokee Park area, about an hour northwest of Fort Collins, said John Schultz of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

Fighting The Fire

A Type 3 fire management team took over control of the fire crews on Tuesday morning. Livermore Elementary School is being used as an incident command center.

One single-engine air tanker, an air attack control plane and two helicopters are fighting the fire from above.

Additional hand crews will be on scene Tuesday bringing the number of personnel working the fire to over 100.

Those crews include the U.S. Forest Service Roosevelt Hotshots and a Canon City crew made up of inmate workers.

The cause was a lightning strike, Schulz said.

No injuries have been reported.

Other Fires In Colorado

Meanwhile, firefighters in western Colorado are mopping up a wildfire that burned nearly 9 square miles of rugged terrain north of Paradox near the Utah border.

Near Pagosa Springs, a fire that has scorched nearly 8 square miles is about 30 percent contained. Crews say much of the risk associated with that blaze has been significantly reduced.

Copyright 2012 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved.

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