A 20-acre wildfire burning in a neighborhood north of Buena Vista forced evacuations Thursday afternoon after a grass fire grew out of control, Chaffee County officials said.
The Mount View fire was reported in the area of Mountain View Estates and the Morrison Creek subdivision 10 miles northwest of Buena Vista shortly before 1 p.m., sparking evacuations for the entire subdivision off of U.S. 24 near the Arkansas River.
County officials sent out pre-evacuation notices to people living in a five-mile radius an hour later and opened the Chaffee County Public Safety Complex in Buena Vista to evacuees.
Power lines in the area have been de-energized for safety reasons, county officials said in a post on Facebook.
Chaffee County officials did not elaborate on what started the grass fire, but the sheriff’s office described it as an “active structure and wildfire” on social media. The area was under a red flag warning on Wednesday for dangerous fire weather conditions, including low humidity and wind gusts up to 30 mph.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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