CONIFER, Colo. -- Winds drove a house fire into surrounding trees near Conifer but firefighters worked quickly to contain it before it spread to other homes.

The blaze was first reported about 11:30 a.m. Friday. A fire ignited inside the home located in the 10000 block of Blue Sky Trail, off Highway 73, and destroyed it.

The blaze extended into the nearby woods prompting an evacuation order for 47 homes. Authorities say the evacuation order was precautionary and was issued by reverse-911 calls.

The grass fire spread for several minutes before firefighters extinguished it. Crews from Elk Creek, Platte Canyon and Evergreen were called in to fight the fire and keep it from spreading.

Students at Conifer High School, more than a mile from the fire, said they could see smoke billowing from the fire.

A Red Flag Warning is in effect for the Front Range and eastern Colorado, meaning that weather conditions are ripe for the rapid spread of fire.

Harvey Hisgen had lived in that home for a year-and-a-half along with his wife and their three dogs.

He came back around 2:30 Friday afternoon to find a totally gutted, three-story shell of his former home.

But he cared most about his three golden retrievers.

Two of them were in the burning home, when a Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy arrived, saw two of them inside, and kicked the door in to save them.

“Oh I‘m happy. I’m grateful, y’know. Here’s some things in the house. We just came back from Peru. I had 1,975 pictures that are in a camera someplace," Hisgen said.