Two men from Alabama have been arrested in Colorado on arson charges accusing them of leaving a campfire unattended, igniting a blaze that destroyed five homes and forced the evacuation of nearly 2,000 residents, authorities said on Monday.
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According to court documents, 28-year-old Jimmy Andrew Suggs, of Vinemont, Alabama, told investigators he and Zack Ryan Kuykendall didn’t put dirt on their campfire to extinguish it, just rocks.
Authorities say the men left a poorly extinguished campfire, smoldering as hot, dry winds whipped down from mountain peaks, that sparked the fire Saturday, forcing evacuations of almost 2,000 people southwest of Boulder, the Post reported.
According to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, speaking during a community meeting Monday afternoon, the fire is now moving east but that could change by Tuesday.
While officials on Monday night estimated the fire to have consumed 606 acres, officials said Tuesday that more accurate mapping done overnight leads them to believe the fire is about 566 acres in size.
A Monday morning statement from the Boulder Office of Emergency Management noted that firefighters battling the wildfire are expecting “erratic, gusty winds up to 35 miles per hour” combined with low relative humidity. The Hayden Pass fire is burning in dead and downed timber and has forced the evacuation of campsites in the area.
Officials say the two men did not ensure their campfire was properly extinguished.
Hot shot crews work along Ridge Road as the Cold Springs Fire continues to burn northeast of Nederland. About 1,250 of those people were evacuated from areas north and west of Boulder Canyon and east of the Peak-to-Peak Highway on Saturday. The fire burned about 600 acres and as of Sunday evening was 0 percent contained.
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Crews were working fire lines around the blaze that has burned about 19 square miles.
