JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — It was a welcome sight for crews fighting the Quarry Fire in Jefferson County as rain began falling over the area Sunday afternoon. However, officials said it did not effect the 472-acre blaze that jumped to 35% containment on Sunday.
The Jefferson County fire, burning near Deer Creek Canyon, is being investigated as an arson. First reported Tuesday night, the fire forced the evacuation of more than 500 people in the area. No homes have been destroyed.
Sunday's rainfall comes a day after residents of two Jefferson County neighborhoods — Deer Creek Mesa and Kueshter — forced to flee from the fast-moving fire learned they will be allowed to return. Those subdivisions account for more than 200 of the 575 homes initially evacuated due to the fire.
Residents from subdivisions still under evacuation orders need to obtain badges from Dakota Ridge High School between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday in order to be allowed back in once those orders are lifted, according to Mark Techmeyer, the public affairs director for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
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"If they don’t have their badge, then they’re not going to get in. I need to be clear about that. People who live in Deer Creek Mesa and in Keuhster, if they just show up today with their driver’s license, that’s not going to work," he said.
But Techmeyer cautioned that badged evacuees returning home need to stay ready to leave again if the need arises.
“This is not done. It’s not over. Stay in a pre-evac mindset. Anything could happen. We could have a weird weather event and changes, and we don't anticipate that, but it could. We've instructed all of them to keep your go-bags packed, be ready to go if you have to go again,” Techmeyer said during a Sunday morning press briefing.
Techmeyer said crews worked Saturday evening into early Sunday morning doing intentional burning and plan to continue that throughout the day. They'll also get help from helicopters and air drops.
Denver7 spoke to neighbors who attended Sunday's press conference about how they're feeling.
"I do have a to-go bag," said evacuee Tim Berg, who is a resident at Ken-Caryl Ranch The Valley. "My car's packed so, and I try to encourage everybody else to do that."
His neighborhood hasn't been forced to evacuate, but it's near the fire and isn't the first one that's sparked close to his home.
"I think for us, you know, the one that this really relates to is the Oak Fire, which was right over here on 470," Berg said. "We did get an evacuation notice for that, and it really just created a lot of unrest."
That's why he's been quick to lend a helping hand.
"One of my neighbors that I've been talking to for years about doing fire mitigation around his house, all of a sudden, on Wednesday. He's like, 'Tim, I'm taking out every Juniper around my house.' So I went over and helped him too."
Karlyn Tilley, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said the arson investigation is ongoing. Investigators are using a dog specially trained to sniff out sources and causes of fires. Tilley said just because they suspect the fire was human-caused doesn’t mean it was intentional.
Additionally, CORE Electric Cooperative shut power off to homes from the intersection of Grizzly Drive and S. Deer Creek Canyon Road, west to South Mckinney Road and everything south of that area for three miles.
The power will be off for 48 hours due ongoing firefighting activities in the, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said.
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