Emergency personnel are currently working to contain a Colorado wildfire that began Monday and led to the evacuation of over 1,000 homes.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet the Elephant Butte Fire located outside the city of Evergreen has burned more than 50 acres and is zero percent contained as 7:30 a.m. local time Tuesday.
Day 2 Update on the #ElephantButteFire Fire is still at 50 acres in size with zero containment. No evacuation orders have been lifted & no new evacuation orders have been issued. We’re hoping the cooler weather today helps us make progress pic.twitter.com/bkzExQ4iyg
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) July 14, 2020
"No evacuation orders have been lifted and no new evacuation orders have been issued. We're hoping the cooler weather today helps us make progress," the sheriff's office said in the tweet.
Video and images captured the massive wildfire as emergency personnel worked to contain it. According to the sheriff's office, over 100 personnel from different agencies are currently fighting the fire.
Direct aerial attack on the #ElephantButteFire #EvergreenColorado ⚠️Please avoid the area and change your plans if you were coming to visit Evergreen area #jeffcotrails #Alderfer3Sisters #ElkMeadowPark #EvergreenLake #DenverMountainParks ‼️ pic.twitter.com/d15ghi4tFx
— Jason (@jcosrangerjason) July 13, 2020
Photos by @RJSangosti of the Elephant Butte fire in Jefferson County: https://t.co/LRlilor1kI pic.twitter.com/km5Cd4Ny3Y
— Matt Sebastian (@mattsebastian) July 14, 2020
Elephant Butte fire pic.twitter.com/i1k4qrAMEy
— Chris Gibbons (@EGman) July 14, 2020
Heavy smoke covers sky as Elephant Butte Fire burns in Colorado https://t.co/qPK1L4rpRV pic.twitter.com/4B5DmxFcGD
— ESN (@evnsocial) July 14, 2020
Clouds of smoke could be seen coming up from the Elephant Butte Fire. A fire ban was implemented Monday due to the hot and dry conditions that could lead to a wildfire.
Right now we’re at 700 homes evacuated in the #ElephantButte fire in #Evergreen. I talked with a 17 year old who was in tears believing his family home has gone up.
— Alan Gionet (@AlanGTV) July 13, 2020
Latest on @CBSDenver pic.twitter.com/EAhaVawPN4
A wildfire has broken out in the past hour just west of Denver in Evergreen, CO deemed the Elephant Butte Fire estimated to have burned 30-40 acres. This was video taken by Mark Hanner South of downtown Denver looking west. Up to 700 homes have been asked to evacuate. #cowx pic.twitter.com/1IbydCjFcZ
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) July 14, 2020
Elephant Butte Fire. pic.twitter.com/2naQWGMnv8
— lukedmiller81 (@lukedmiller81) July 14, 2020
Helicopters could be seen pickup up water to take it over the wildfire. An airplane was also seen dropping a fire retardant.
The Elephant Butte Fire in Evergreen continues as fire crews load up on water before dumping it over the flames. pic.twitter.com/QxCnwxzrpN
— Ivan Rodriguez (@IvanRodriguezTV) July 14, 2020
Elephant' Butte in Evergreen, CO is on fire rn, but these peeps are working hard 🙌 pic.twitter.com/rnjhSLu4lO
— AimaElohim (@chandradefiance) July 14, 2020
Undeterred by light rain, Airstrike Firefighter's P3 Orion "Tanker 22" among 3 LATs continuing to pound Elephant Butte fire near #Evergreen, CO with retardant drops. @AlanGTV will have the latest from the scene at 10pm @CBSDenver #cowx #cofire pic.twitter.com/6lkBdKd5Nn
— Rob McClure 🇺🇸 (@RobCBS4) July 14, 2020
The Jefferson County Sherriff's office posted an image of the fire in the late evening, and told residents they would be alerted if evacuation orders were to be lifted.
Operations for the #ElephantButteFire will use CodeRed when they lift any evacuation orders. However, they do NOT expect any to be lifted over night. Sign up for CodeRed: https://t.co/OhS9dTEK0D pic.twitter.com/Z4aCw93wt7
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) July 14, 2020
Paul Amundson, the incident commander and wildland captain for Evergreen Fire and Rescue, provided an update in a video saying firefighters planned to work into the night, following a brief pause in efforts due to lightning storms in the area.
#ElephantButteFire is at 50 acres, 0% containment. Pulling firefighters off the line temporarily due to lightening in the area. Air support still very active. Cause of fire is under investigation. pic.twitter.com/AEEEN0JNbo
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) July 14, 2020
Here an update on the #elephantbuttefire from @efr_co Incident Commander & Wildland Captain Paul Amundson. He’s explaining hotspots & where we stand. The #JeffCo Type 3 IMT has now taken over command of the fire pic.twitter.com/GcQdMthKq8
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) July 14, 2020
"The plan right now is we have Tatanka Hotshots operationally out scouting...They are going to assess whether it is safe to go up and reengage. If it is then we are going to continue operations up there in through the night, probably into midnight [or] 1 a.m., evaluate where we are at and then pull folks off the line and come up with tomorrow's plans operationally," Amundson said.
Take a closer look at @efr_co firefighters fighting the #ElephantButteFire #jeffco pic.twitter.com/P7LMgOWuvL
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) July 13, 2020
Newsweek reached out to Evergreen Fire and Rescue for comment, but did not receive a response back in time for publication.
Emergency personnel could be seen headed to the fire site early Tuesday morning.
Wildland firefighters heading to the command post for the Elephant Butte Fire. We’re waiting on an update on the fire fight and if crews were able to contain it at all overnight. 1,000+ homes are currently in the evacuation zone. No word yet on if/when evacuations will be lifted. pic.twitter.com/rmbyEAlV1w
— Emily Allen (@EmilyAReports) July 14, 2020
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told reporters Tuesday morning they have no idea how the fire started.
"We don't have any information on what caused the fire yet...That will be something that will be determined later. Right now we're just focused on getting this under control," the spokesperson said.
