WELD COUNTY – It is not yet the peak of the fire season, but that didn't stop a wildfire from spreading to 2,500 acres on Monday afternoon west of Wiggins.
Six fire departments responded to the grassfire which broke out around 12:20 p.m. along Interstate 76 just west of the Weld-Morgan County line.
County Road 91 was closed during the fire so emergency vehicles could get through.
Fire crews reached 100 percent containment by just after 6 p.m., according to the Weld County Sheriff's Office.
John Bornhoft was driving by and pulled off on the side of the road when he saw the fire. He lives in Sterling, about 50 miles away.
"It was burning when I came through there about two hours ago. It's still burning. I thought they'd have it out by now," said Bornhoft.
He noticed something that made fighting the fire a challenge for the crews.
"It's dry out," he said. "It's getting drier every day. No rain. Then you got the wind like we got today, gets worse and worse every day."
"The conditions right now are extremely dry. We have a high fire danger time period. These hot dry winds over the last week, and certainly the lack of precipitation, continue to make this a high fire danger (time)," said Public Information Officer Margie Martinez with the Weld County Sheriff's Office.
Officials in the area around the fire communicated with campers at the Empire Reservoir, urging them to leave if they saw flames. It was not clear how many campers were in the area.
Informational reverse 911 calls were made to the few residents in the area, but officials say it is not largely populated. There was no damage to any structures and no injuries were reported.
"It's all grassland up in this area," said Martinez.
A tanker from Pueblo assisted, dropping a load in addition to the three loads dropped by a crop duster.
Officials also warned people living south of Highway 34 to keep an eye on the fire.
"We had six fire departments and probably over 100 personnel out here today, making sure that this fire did not cause additional damage," said Martinez.
The Weld County fire was just one of many that are dotting tinderbox states like Colorado, Arizona and California.
