CAMPO, Colorado — Multiple agencies are working to contain a wildfire that was sparked by lightning Wednesday in Baca County. The Grasslands Complex fire as it's called, had burned an estimated 3,500 acres as of early Thursday night, and is burning about 19 miles west of Campo, Colorado.
The Pike and San Isabel National Forest is supervising the firefight, and they tell News5 that multiple agencies are working on the ground and in the air to try and gain a containment line, including the Baca County Sheriff, The U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
In addition to the crews on the ground when the fire started on Wednesday, two more U.S. Forest Service hot shot crews were expected to arrive on scene Friday morning, and there has already been major air support. Six aircraft in fact, including two large air tankers and four two seat aircraft dropping water and fire retardant.
Thursday afternoon, a ranch and an outbuilding were threatened, but the focus of the firefight was on that property, and was no longer threatened Thursday night. Generally speaking, the fire is burning on open grassland, but is being pushed by gusting wind, and firefighters were having to battle temperatures in excess of one hundred degrees.
