LITTLETON, Colo. — Firefighters have fully contained a 3-acre grass fire that was sparked by lightning near Waterton Canyon Tuesday afternoon.
Crews worked until around 8:30 p.m. and returned in the morning to contain the fire.
Waterton Canyon was closed to public access when the fire started, but no structures were threatened and no neighborhoods were evacuated.
The location of the fire was tricky.
"Just because of access getting up to it," said West Metro Captain Todd Heinl. "We had to quite a hike in to get to it, with hand tools."
Firefighters worked until nightfall digging a fire line in steep and rugged terrain, according to West Metro Fire Rescue. Firefighters also used a drone to seek out hot spots so the crews on the ground could respond.
The small grass fire started burning south of Lockheed Martin shortly before 2 p.m., according to West Metro Fire.
By 3:15 p.m., smoke was no longer visible from the command post staged near the fire, West Metro said.
About 50 firefighters from four districts — West Metro, South Metro Fire Rescue, Castle Rock Fire and Elizabeth Fire — and two helicopters responded to the scene.
Waterton Canyon will reopen for recreation on Wednesday. It was closed for hours on Tuesday due to firefighting efforts.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Colorado is currently drought-free.
That's good news for firefighters, but the risk of wildfire doesn't completely disappear.
"Because we've had a lot of moisture, a lot of precipitation, those (fire) fuels have been able to grow a lot and it doesn’t take long for a dry period to dry those fuels out," Heinl said. "Especially those finer fuels, and now you just have more fuel to burn."
"We haven’t had as active of a (wildfire) season yet, but that’s not to say that we won't still."
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