A brush fire in Arapahoe County that burned more than 1,100 acres and destroyed four homes southeast of Byers is 100% contained, sheriff’s officials said Saturday afternoon.
The Quail Hollow fire started Saturday morning on private property in the 2400 block of South Quail Hollow Road, according to Sheriff Tyler Brown.
Initial reports of flames came in about 10:10 a.m., and first responders arrived about 10:18 a.m., Brown said.
The fire was fully contained in less than five hours, but not before the flames charred 1,150 acres and destroyed eight buildings — including at least four homes and three outbuildings — Brown said.
Deputies evacuated a three-mile area near County Road 193 and County Road 34 after the fire destroyed the first home. They are now working with fire officials to get individuals back into their homes safely, Brown said.
The families displaced by the fire will be relocated with help from the Red Cross, according to Brown.
The sheriff’s office and about a dozen fire departments — including seven crews from South Metro Fire Rescue and a four-vehicle strike team from the Denver Fire Department — responded to support Byers Fire Rescue in wildland and structure fire protection.
“The fire was initially reported at about the size of a football field but grew very quickly,” Brown said. “It jumped over County Road 34 and ran all the way south to County Road 38.”
Byers Fire Rescue handed control of the fire over to the sheriff’s office about 1 p.m. because it “grew beyond the capacity of local fire agencies,” Brown said.
According to Brown, the fire was 100% contained about 3:05 p.m., and fire crews were exptected to remain there overnight to mop up hot spots.
Three air tankers and one helicopter dropped water and retardant on the flames while fire crews on the ground worked to protect several homes to the northwest, the sheriff’s office said.
Hot, dry and windy weather helped the flames spread quickly and made the fire difficult to fight, Brown said.
As of 4 p.m., no injuries had been reported, but Brown said crews were still working to locate and assess any animals harmed by the fire.
“This is a rural, agricultural area, and we did have a number of landowners and farmers come into the area,” Brown said. “This is a very tight-knit community that provides help for each other in times of need like this, so we did have a lot of people coming out and bringing their own personal farm equipment to help fight the fire.”
Brown couldn’t give an estimate of community members who came out to help, but said it was more than a dozen and less than 100.
Community members also were working on places to house displaced livestock and coordinating a secondary collection point at the county fairgrounds to reunite owners with animals that might have gotten out during the fire and rounded up after, Brown said.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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