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Foothills Forest Fire Burns 140 Acres Near Deckers

Air Tankers, Federal Firefighters, Mutual Aid Called In

POSTED: 1:35 pm MDT July 20, 2008
UPDATED: 10:05 pm MDT July 20, 2008

A forest fire continued to burn Sunday evening in Jefferson County, north of Deckers, after jumping tree-to-tree earlier.

The blaze, dubbed the Oxyoke Fire, was estimated at 149 acres in size Sunday night, according to Nancy Brewer, public information officer with the Pike National Forest. Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles before it subsided in the evening as winds died down.

The fire was reported at 12:20 p.m. along Highway 67, which is a dirt road that runs along the South Platte at that point. The river separates Jefferson and Douglas Counties.

The first co-ordinates of the fire put it on the Douglas County side, but those co-ordinates were updated to place the fire on the Jefferson County side.

"At this time there is nothing in Douglas County that is threatened," said deputy Cocha Heyden, Public Information Officer for Douglas County. "Deputies are actively patrolling the Douglas County side of the Platte River, advising campers in the area of the situation. There are no evacuations on the Douglas County side of the river. Platte River Rd (Douglas County road 97) is closed between Night Hawk Hill (Douglas County road 40) and Sugar Creek."

An evacuation order was issued by reverse-911 Monday afternoon for residents living from Trumbull to Oxyoke, in Jefferson County, as 15 to 20 structures were reported to be threatened by the fire in its early stages. They were allowed to return to their homes Sunday night.

"We are concerned about a day camp in the area where the campers are still out and hiking in the area," said Jacki Kelley with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department on Sunday afternoon. Those hikers and campers were all accounted for.

An advisory was issued Sunday afternoon for the Spring Creek subdivision in Jefferson County to be prepared for possible evacuation. That subdivision is just off Highway 126, northwest of the fire. The area northwest of the fire also includes a large swath of the 1996 Buffalo Creek Fire burn area.

The Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross quickly set up an emergency shelter at Conifer High School for residents, but closed it around 7 p.m. due to a lack of usage. Any citizens in need of help due to the fire were asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office non-emergency number, 303-271-0211.

The Red Cross was on standby to reopen, if needed, on Monday.

About an hour after the fire started, firefighters reported that flames were running uphill and the fire was crowning -- meaning the fire was burning in the tops of trees and moving from treetop to treetop. Flame lengths were estimated at up to 75 feet.

Early photos of the fire showed it moving uphill from the South Platte River Road -- Highway 67 -- which runs along the South Platte River, a gold medal trout stream.

Four single-engine air tankers, and a helicopter were making drops on the fire Sunday afternoon, according to Brewer. The air tankers were dropping fire retardant slurry on the fire and the helicopter was dropping water from the nearby Platte River. The air tankers were being loaded with slurry at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, formerly the Jefferson County Airport. Additional air support was expected Monday.

Firefighters had asked for additional mutual aid from surrounding fire departments before turning firefighting control over to the U.S. Forest Service incident management team at 4 p.m.

Brewer said three ground crews would work the fire into the night, with additional crews on the way. As many as 225 firefighters were expected to be on the fire line Monday.

The fire is believed to have been started by lighting.

The National Interagency Fire Center said the national preparedness level remained at five, on a scale of one to five -- five being the highest.

Please upload pictures and videos of the fire to iReport or e-mail photos to ireport@thedenverchannel.com.


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