Pearl Fire near Colorado-Wyoming border was human caused, Larimer County sheriff says
The Pearl Fire that forced evacuations in Larimer County on Monday near the Colorado-Wyoming border was human caused. That's according to Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, who said an investigation is ongoing to determine whether it was accidentally set or not.
Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency due to the wildfire.
The fire has burned 138 acres. It is burning northwest of Red Feather Lakes in the Crystal Lakes area. It's north of Lake Erie.
All residents of Crystal Lakes north of Black Mountain to the state line are under mandatory evacuations. That now includes areas west of Red Feather Lakes south to Highway 14 and north to the Wyoming border. More than 2,000 evacuation notices went out to devices signed up for alerts in the region.
An overnight evacuation shelter opened at Cache La Poudre Middle School in Laporte.
Feyen told CBS Colorado that wind conditions were favorable on Monday because they were pushing the flames towards national forest land and away from structures on the eastern side of the fire. Several dozen ground personnel arrived to fight the fire during the day and air resources helped in the firefight from the sky.
As of Monday evening, there were no reports of injuries.
So far there's no containment on the fire.
