GOLDEN - About 100 homes have been evacuated near the Indian Gulch Fire burning near Golden as the fire spread Monday to 850 acres.
INDIAN GULCH FIRE SLIDESHOW
About 120 firefighters are working the fire which as of Monday night, is about 15 percent contained.
A fire ban has gone into effect for all of unincorporated Jefferson County.
The residents issued to evacuate in Golden Gate Canyon were asked to leave in order for the firefighters to work on fire operations. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, the evacuation order was not ordered because the threat is high. The evacuated residents are being asked to go to Golden High School.
"[The firefighters] are so excited to get up on the fire, the hardest part is getting them off the fire. Because there's a work to rest ratio, they have to come off the spot. But they're like, 'I've made this ground, I don't want to lose this ground.' So, they're special people," said Jacki Kelly, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The pre-evacuation order went out to 705 homes at about 12:45 p.m. according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The emergency call warned residents that they should be prepared to evacuate on short notice.
"[The firefighters] are so excited to get up on the fire, the hardest part is getting them off the fire. Because there's a work to rest ratio, they have to come off the spot. But they're like, 'I've made this ground, I don't want to lose this ground.' So, they're special people," said Kelly.
The pre-evacuation order went out to 705 homes at about 12:45 p.m. according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The emergency call warned residents that they should be prepared to evacuate on short notice.
If the need for more homes to evacuate arises, deputies say another emergency call will go out.
Deputies say firefighting efforts on the east end of the fire near the closest subdivision are going well as of early Monday afternoon. The closest residences to the fire are in the Mountain Ridge Subdivision, which is in the northwest corner of U.S. 6 and Highway 93.
Residents with disabilities are asked to call 303-271-0211 to make arrangements if they need additional assistance evacuating.
Residents with large animals are encouraged to move them now to the Jefferson County Fair Grounds, according to deputies. Small animals can be taken to the Foothills Animal Shelter.
Social Media storyline on Indian Gulch Fire
A perfect storm of events including strong winds has caused the fire, burning between Golden Gate and Clear Creek Canyons, to grow to more than 700 acres overnight according to authorities.
Deputies say wind gusts up to 35 mph along the north flank of the fire, near Golden Gate Canyon Road, have forced firefighters to retreat back into safety zone.
Jacki Kelly with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department says the fire is only 15 percent contained along the southeast edge of the fire, near U.S. 6, as of Monday morning.
"It's just a recipe for problems because of the kind of terrain, as dry as it is out, the winds that we dealt with yesterday, [and] the relative humidity," Kelly said. "It's just a bad combination."
About 90 firefighters are on the ground Monday. Two helicopters along with a single engine air tanker, or SEAT, have been called in, but the SEAT is grounded due to communication problems.
"It's going to be a rough day," Kelly said. "We have a Red Flag Warning Day. You don't want a fire on a day like today. We know we are going to have lower humidity, we are going to have pretty serious winds, and we're dealing with a fire."
9NEWS Meteorologist Becky Ditchfield says an approaching cold front will bring more strong wind gusts to the Front Range, foothills and eastern plains Monday afternoon.
Becky says the Red Flag Warning is in effect until 8 p.m. and includes the foothills west of Denver, Denver, most eastern plains locations to the Kansas state line, and all of Interstate 25 from Denver to Trinidad. Gusts above 25 mph are expected around the metro area, while locations in the foothills could see gusts up to 45 mph. Dry conditions and gusty winds will combine to bring high fire danger to much of Colorado Monday.
Kelly says the fire is burning on Mt. Galbraith and was originally reported as a 5 acre wildfire around 10 a.m. Sunday.
U.S. 6 was closed from Highway 58 to Highway 119 due to the fire Sunday, but was reopened Monday morning.
Kelly says several fire departments, including West Metro Fire, Wheat Ridge Fire, Golden Fire, Golden Gate Fire and Fairmount Fire Departments, are on the scene.
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