The Spring Creek Fire was a
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
near
Fort Garland
Fort Garland (1858–1883), Colorado, United States, was designed to house two companies of soldiers to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then in the Territory of New Mexico (1850-1912). It was named for General John Garland (1793-1861) ...
and
La Veta,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
in
Costilla and
Huerfano counties in southern Colorado. The fire burned a total of
and was the third-largest wildfire in Colorado history.
Origin and trial
The Spring Creek Fire started on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 near
Fort Garland, Colorado
Fort Garland is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Costilla County, Colorado, United States. The Fort Garland post office has the ZIP Code 81133. At the United States Census ...
.
Jesper Jørgensen (modified to Joergensen or Jorgensen in English), 52, a citizen of Denmark and reported by immigration authorities as being in the United States illegally because he had overstayed his visa, has been arrested and faces arson charges for allegedly starting the fire.
He had been using a fire pit to grill food while camping in rural Colorado. Jørgensen claimed he was unaware of the open fire ban. He had presumed the fire in the pit was fully extinguished, but was woken from his afternoon nap by the smell of smoke a few hours later. He initially attempted to extinguish it himself, getting minor burns in the process, and when that failed he called 911. When the first firefighters arrived the fire had already engulfed trees and vegetation. The blaze was declared 100% contained on September 10, 2018. More than 140 structures were destroyed in the fire.
Shortly after his arrest in June 2018, Jørgensen was declared
mentally incompetent
In United States and Canadian law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings or transactions, and the mental condition a person must have to be responsible for his or her decisions or acts. Comp ...
, causing a delay in his case.
Evacuations
The Forbes Park neighborhood near Fort Garland was under mandatory evacuations during the fire.
In Huerfano County, mandatory evacuations were ordered for
Cuchara, Chama,
Red Wing, Malachite, and
Badito south of
Highway 69
Route 69, or Highway 69, may refer to:
International
*European route E69
Australia
* Appin Road
Canada
* Alberta Highway 69
* Ontario Highway 69
China
* G69 Expressway
Finland
* Finnish national road 69
Greece
* EO69 road
India
* N ...
. The community of
Gardner Gardner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Gardner (given name)
*Gardner (surname)
Places United States
* Gardner, Colorado
*Gardner, Illinois
*Gardner, Kansas
*Gardner, Massachusetts
* Gardner, North Dakota
* Gardner, Tennessee
* Ga ...
was placed on "pre-evacuation" for a time.
See also
*
416 Fire
*
Lake Christine Fire
The Lake Christine Fire was a wildfire that burned near Basalt and Carbondale, in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The fire was the result of an act of criminal arson. It started on July 3, 2018, and was later downgraded to a Burned Are ...
*
Weston Pass Fire
*
Pine Gulch Fire
The Pine Gulch Fire was a wildfire that burned in Mesa County and Garfield County, Colorado in the United States. The fire was started by a lightning strike and first reported on July 31, 2020, and quickly grew, resulting in the fire being nam ...
*
Cameron Peak Fire, largest fire in state history
References
External links
Official National Wildfire Coordinating Group website for the fireSatellite image of the burn scar
Wildfires in Colorado
Huerfano County, Colorado
Costilla County, Colorado
2018 Colorado wildfires
Arson in Colorado
Wildfires caused by arson
Arson in 2018
2018 in Colorado
2010s crimes in Colorado
June 2018 crimes in the United States
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