Fire fighters battle for upper hand on Dakota Ridge fire

A blaze continued burning along C-470 near Morrison Road Tuesday.

JEFFERSON COUNTY – A brush fire on the east face of Dakota Ridge continued to burn Tuesday as firefighters tried to gain the upper hand on the still-flaming hillsides.

The fire broke out about 2 p.m. Monday, sending flames racing up the brush-and-grass covered slope immediately west of C-470 and about half a mile south of the Morrison Road exit. Traffic backed up for miles after deputies closed the stretch of the major highway, and vehicles were stuck in a miles-long traffic jam that eventually stretched back to Interstate 70, backing up eastbound along that highway, as well.

The highway closing allowed firefighting equipment to ferry water to the base of the slope, where it was off-loaded to feed fire hoses stretching up the hillside.

The busy highway was open Tuesday as firefighters continued the battle, said Mark Techmeyer, Jeffco Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

The steep, rocky slope of the ridge presented firefighters with the tough task of fighting a wind-driven fire as it raced through difficult terrain, forcing fire crews to walk and climb their way to the flames from a staging area off Morrison Road, more than a half-mile from the flames.

“It’s out there kind of in ‘no-man’s land’ and it’s a real slow process,” Techmeyer said. Because of loose rocks and soil, the crews “have to be real careful where they’re stepping,” he added.

About 60 firefighters from West Metro Fire Rescue District, the Colorado Forest Service and the Inter-Canyon, Golden, Fairmont, Evergreen and Littleton fire departments battled the blaze for hours as it raced ahead of firefighters late Monday before rising humidity and a dose of rainfall gave fire crews a hand late in the evening.

West Metro crews monitored the fire through the night and were joined Tuesday morning by Department of Corrections fire crews from the Buena Vista correctional facility to continue fighting the blaze, which took off again as temperatures began to rise and humidity levels dropped.

Despite the rugged terrain, there were no injuries among the fire crews, but West Metro paramedics also remained at the scene in case they are needed. No structures were in the path of the fire, Techmeyer said.

The fire, estimated at nearly 80 acres late Monday, spread again in the late morning hours Tuesday and the blaze was only 25 percent contained by mid-afternoon, Techmeyer said. Fire officials said later in the day that they were hoping for 60 percent containment by Wednesday.

Recent afternoon showers delivered by the monsoon season have dampened some fuels, but others, including the grasses on Dakota Ridge remain vulnerable.

“One of the things the firefighters said this morning is that yesterday when they woke up they would never had bet that there was going to be a grass fire because the humidity was high,” said Micki Trost, West Metro spokeswoman.

“But when you look at those grasses, they’re knee-high and brown. That means they are all cured out, that they are really dry,” Trost added.

And the larger fuels, mostly pinon and junipers, remain dry despite the recent rain.

“Even though we’re getting short rainstorms everyday, it’s not enough to actually get moisture into them. We need some really long rainstorms,” Trost added.

The cause of the fire has not been pinpointed, but lightning and a cigarette tossed from a passing vehicle are among the prime suspects.

Trost said residents should not be lulled into carelessness because of the summer showers.

“ We always need to be careful and keep an eye on what’s around us, make sure that we are putting things where they need to be, so they are not causing fires out in the community,” Trost said.