Quarry Fire in Colorado prompts mandatory evacuations for Deer Creek Mesa, Sampson Road areas in Jefferson County

A mandatory evacuation was underway for Deer Creek Mesa area, as well as Sampson and Maxwell subdivisions, as crews responded to the Quarry Fire in Jefferson County overnight. In an update on Wednesday, the new Colorado wildfire was burning at least 200 acres with 0% containment. Roughly 575 homes were being evacuated in the respective subdivisions. 

According to Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, a multi-agency response was being conducted along West Deer Creek Canyon Road about 3/4 miles west of Grizzly Drive. South Valley Park was north of the stretch of road for the fire, and Deer Creek Mesa Area was south. 

The sheriff's office confirmed the fire was originally discovered by a deputy around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. The cause of the fire was under investigation. 

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Techmeyer said that the other wildfires currently burning in Colorado have a lot of the wildfire-fighting resources in use, so they may be out of luck for getting aerial support to help the firefighters who are on the ground trying to control the fire in difficult terrain.

"Everything's stacked against us," Techmeyer said. "Low resources, we've got treacherous terrain. We've got very flammable fuel. But we've got some of the best people in the business on it."

During the preliminary response, dozens of firefighters were already responding along with Jefferson County deputies. Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District was being assisted by West Metro Fire Rescue. 

Techmeyer said making sure the firefighters are safe is a big focus.

"This is really hard territory for our firefighters. It's very steep. It's a lot of timber, a lot of scrub oak. We had scrub oak flaming up last night 30 to 50 feet at night, which says a lot; you don't normally see that in a fire like this," he said. "And also, we have a rattlesnake problem to deal with. There's even an area in there called Rattlesnake Gulch (because) they're so prevalent in the area. So we have a lot of things to be concerned about for our firefighters today."

There were no reports of injuries or damage to homes and buildings in the area early on Wednesday.

An evacuation shelter was set up at Dakota Ridge High School on the 13300 block of West Coal Mine Avenue in Littleton. A little over a dozen people went there overnight. People who need to evacuate large animals can bring them to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden.