'You May Have 2 Minutes': Estes Park Residents Flee Homes After Kruger Rock Fire Sparks
ESTES PARK, Colo. (CBS4) - Estes Park residents rushed to pack up what they could as a fire blazed through wilderness on Kruger Rock. The Kruger Rock Fire started Tuesday morning after an issue with power lines sparked the blaze.
It pushed east towards Highway 36 in high winds and is estimated at 133 acres in size and is 15% contained as of 6:30 p.m.
It didn't take long for Susan Wolf and her husband, Tom Street, to know they were in danger Tuesday morning.
"It was about 7:15 a.m., and the power went out. I assumed it was the wind, however I looked out down from my house, and I thought 'That's strange. Those lights are on, and the power's off.' The lights kept getting bigger and bigger. I got my binoculars, and I realized there was a grass fire about 3/4 mile down from our house. Within 20 minutes it expanded probably up to about 20 acres," said Street.
Wolf told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann she was prepared for something like this. Without thinking twice, the couple grabbed a few belongings and raced out of their neighborhood on the south side of Estes Park.
"I keep a suitcase packed with cash at all times and everything I need to stay overnight somewhere else. You may have two minutes or two seconds to get out. These winds are really treacherous and they blow embers onto your roof," said Wolf. "You don't want to think about what to take."
Highway 36 is closed at Mall Road in Estes Park and at Apple Valley Road.
Mandatory evacuations are ordered for homes and businesses in Hermit Park (around Little Valley Road and Fish Creek Road, just west of Kruger Rock); Meadowdale and south to the Boulder County line, to include Big Elk Meadows and Pinewood Springs west of Highway 36; and from Pole Hill Road to Panorama Peak area on the east side of Highway 36.
Voluntary evacuations are also in place near those areas.
LINK: Larimer County Kruger Rock Fire Info Website
Those seeking overnight shelter can head to the YMCA of the Rockies at 2515 Tunnel Road. Small pets are welcome there. LifeBridge Church is also offering overnight shelter at 10345 Ute Hwy.
Some evacuees are getting help from the American Red Cross at an evacuation center set up at the local fairgrounds. All are patiently waiting for word if their homes were spared from the wind-fueled flames.
"I am very stressed because you don't know if your house is going to be lost," Wolf said.
The couple has called Estes Park home for more than 20 years, and have evacuated from fires in the area many times before. Now, they're not so sure they want to call that corner of Colorado home much longer.
"It's disturbing mainly because this a year later, and we're going through the same drill. To think you'd have a fire, and we're talking almost December, and we're talking fires," Street said. "That's the thing that really bothers me."
The American Red Cross of Northern Colorado is helping with the response to the fire.