Critical Fire Weather Brings Multiple Starts And Evacuations In Southern Colorado

Evacuations are in place as firefighters throughout southern Colorado battle multiple fires. 

In southern El Paso County, officials say 10 structures have been lost in a fire near mile marker 117. It's unknown how many of those structures are homes. There's a mandatory evacuation between S. Peyton Highway to the west and Boone Road on the east, with the northern boundary set at Squirrel Creek Rd. and the southern boundary at Myers Road, with additional evacuation areas as indicated by the shaded areas in the map below.  

An evacuation shelter is open at the Fountain Valley Baptist Church, 500 Alabama Ave., in Fountain. Small animals can be taken to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region in Colorado Springs; the Norris-Penrose Event Center is open for large animals.

#117Fire New Evacuation map pic.twitter.com/H881DOUj76

— EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) April 17, 2018

In Pueblo County, this same fire is prompting a pre-evacuation notice for the Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant and from the El Paso Couny Line to the 6000 block of Overton Road.  An earlier fire in Pueblo County in the vicinty of Baxter Road is now 100% contained. 

Map from the Colorado Office of Emergency Management

The fires are among several burning in southern Colorado during a day of high winds and Red Flag Warnings. Both are in effect until 8 p.m. A Red Flag Warning means critical fire weather is occurring, including strong winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels.

---Last updated: 8:20 p.m. 4/17/18---