A wildfire that broke out Thursday at 4:30 p.m MDT caused evacuations to be ordered southwest of Denver. It was named “Deer Creek Canyon Park Fire” after the park by the same name. The fire appeared to have ignited about 250 feet south of a fire station for the Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District along Grizzly Drive south of 124. (see map below)

The video below shows the fire burning with a slow rate of spread through heavy brush, but it slowed even more when reaching grassy areas that still had a green component.

The closest structures that were affected by the evacuation are very large homes, most but not all with defensible space. Stacy Martin, Public Information Officer for the fire, said Friday at 9 a.m. that no residents took advantage of the designated evacuation shelters. The evacuation was still in effect Friday at 9 a.m. but she said fire officials hope to rescind the order “soon”.

Overnight the relative humidity rose to over 80 percent which along with a wind shift dampened the spread of the fire.

Ms. Martin said the fire burned an estimated 20 to 25 acres and is surrounded by a hose lay. The 33-minute Denver 7 video below did not record any aircraft working the fire. A helicopter will be available today that flew in from Montrose, Colorado Thursday night. Approximately 130 firefighters have been assigned.

A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department said the fire was human-caused, but that just means it was not started by lightning or a volcano. He said an explosion was heard around the time it started and juveniles were seen running in the area.

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