Strong winds fuel fire that destroys homes in Colorado
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Firefighters battled strong winds to put out fires at five homes in Castle Rock on Tuesday morning, CBS Denver reports. Two of the homes have partially collapsed and are completely destroyed. There is damage to three other homes.
About 10 a.m. Tuesday, Castle Rock Fire and Rescue received a call of a home on fire in the 4800 block of Foxtail Drive. Strong winds carried the flames to an additional four homes. The homes surrounding those on fire were evacuated.
"When this fire came in we had consistent 30-40 mph winds in the area and we had a lot of our resources south for a fire on Tomah Road," said Castle Rock Fire Chief Art Morales.
The three-alarm wild land fire was burning 10 miles south of Castle Rock on Tomah Road. That fire has been contained.
What caused the fire is being investigated but investigators believe it may have started in the garage.
"The garage door was open, we believe that's what helped the fire move into the home," said Morales.
The homes are located in a neighborhood west of the outlet mall in Castle Rock.
"Our primary objective when we first got here was to get the people out of the way. A lot of heat, a lot of wind, a lot of moving embers, and so our primary effort was getting people evacuated. And then not only try to knock these fires down, but there were houses on the other side of the street that were also starting to burn that we had to protect," said Morales.
Firefighters battled strong winds in the area. There are no reports of any injuries.
Castle Rock remains under stage 1 fire restrictions.
