A wildfire in Grand County has forced the evacuations of hundreds of homes in Grand Lake Thursday afternoon, the Grand County Sheriff's Office said.
The evacuation order is for areas north of County Road 48 east toward Rocky Mountain National Park to Highway 34, the Grand Lake Fire Department said.
Lt. Dan Mayer with the Grand County Sheriff's Office said 300 homes were ordered to evacuate in the Columbine Lakes and Grand Lake Golf Course neighborhoods. About 450 people in all were evacuated.
Firefighters responded to the Golf Course Fire burning off County Road 48 near the town of Grand Lake around 2:30 p.m.
Multiple crews from Grand Lake Fire, East Grand Fire, Hot Sulphur Springs, EMS and the Sheriff's Office are all responding to the fire to get it under control.
County Road 48 is closed to the public out of a concern for people's safety near the town of Grand Lake.
Evacuees are asked to report to Grand Lake Center at 301 Marina Drive, Grand Lake, CO.
The Sheriff's Office said they were not sure how many homes are actually occupied and that many are vacation homes.
This is the second fire burning in Grand County Thursday, the other being the Sugarloaf Fire on national land north of Silverthorne near Ute Pass.
Smoke from the wildfire is visible in the western part of Boulder County but it's important to remember there are no wildfires reported there, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.
