COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — One person and a dog have died and eight mobile homes have been destroyed by a fire that broke out at the Skylark Mobile Home Park at 3831 N Cascade Ave.
The fire broke out around noon and one witness told News 5 that there was an explosion.
CSFD said that after an extensive investigation they have determined that the fire was "accidental."
The one person who died was believed to be in the mobile home where the fire originated from.
The El Paso County Coroners Office will determine the official cause and manner of death, the person's identity has not been released.
Colorado Springs Fire Department said that when they arrived three homes were fully involved, and there were propane tanks that were venting flames 50 feet into the air. They said the fire spread to the other five that would eventually become a total loss. They said other homes also may have damage.
Dark smoke from the fire could be seen for miles across the city. CSFD's Lt. Aaron McConnelogue said 50 firefighters responded to the fire, and that some of them were originally heading toward a fire in the Stetson Hill area, but switched to the mobile homes fire since "time was of the essence," due to the potential for explosions with the propane tanks and the wind.
Everyone in the area was initially ordered to evacuate immediately to VASA Fitness at Filmore and Nevada, the evacuation center was then moved to the Grace Baptist Church at 3500 N Nevada Avenue.
According to the City of Colorado Springs, the evacuation orders for the park will remain in effect at least until Friday morning.
Lt. McConnelogue said as of 2:30 p.m. the fire was 100 percent and did not spread past the mobile homes park. As of right now, there are no known injuries.
Crews will monitor the area throughout the night to put out hot spots and prevent flare-ups. CSFD also says that residents may not be allowed to return to their homes until later tonight due to a number of concerning factors including propane tanks that are used to heat the mobile homes.
"With the number of units we need to make sure everything is going to be safe, with all of the utilities being controlled, trying to get into everybody's house and make sure that we're managing everybody's hotspots that are getting in there, we get a lot of hidden you know inside of the walls and the ceilings," said Lt. McConnelogue.
He added the wind is also a concern and that it could "take one spark to get everything going all over again."
Crews also said there were lots of pets roaming the area and they had to rescue a dog covered in soot from one of the homes. They say residents can contact the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Regions if they are having trouble locating their pets.
CSFD says they do not know the cause or the origin of the fire yet.
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