80-acre blaze may smolder for days

MANITOU SPRINGS - Fire crews kept a vigil Friday night over a smoky wildfire on the steep, wooded slopes along the old Incline railway before resuming the battle to contain it today.

The fire, about a mile west of U.S. Highway 24, had grown to an estimated 80 acres Friday evening, said Manitou Springs Fire Department spokesman David Hunting.

The Incline fire, which probably was human-caused, is expected to smolder for several days, said Colorado Springs Fire Department Lt. Jeff Sievers.

Firefighters came down about 8:30 p.m., leaving a skeleton crew to keep tabs on the fire overnight.

Dying winds and lower temperatures Friday night were expected to aid in battling the fire.

As night fell, the Juniper Valley Fire Crew — made up of state in- mates from Cañon City — relieved firefighters who had worked throughout the day to dig fire lines around the blaze.

Officials did not have an estimate on how much, if any, of the fire had been contained.

“It is pretty rough terrain up there,” Hunting said Friday night. “We’re hopefully going to get this well under control during the night so that we just have some clean up and mop up in the morning.”

Though kept at bay throughout the afternoon by erratic winds, helicopters and a heavy air tanker from Hill Air Force Base near Salt Lake City were able to attack the fire from the sky by 6 p.m. when the winds died.

The fire north of Pikes Peak was burning uphill Friday afternoon and grew from an initial estimate of 10 acres. It threatened, but didn’t reach, three homes, Hunting said.

More than 60 U.S. Forest Service, El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Green Mountain Falls and Monument firefighters fought the blaze, which was reported shortly before noon.

Volunteer firefighters from Colorado Springs Utilities also responded because the North Slope Watershed, part of the city’s water supply, was in the fire’s path.

“We have plenty of resources on scene,” Hunting said, adding he did not anticipate having to request more help.

Among the fire crews, was the Pike Hotshot crew, elite U.S. Forest Service firefighters, who had planned their endof-season dinner Friday night.

The Hotshots, who operate from May through September, instead, found themselves on the line at the Incline fire, U.S. Forest spokesman Ralph Bellah said.

Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs was closed Friday to everyone except residents and business owners, and hikers still on Barr Trail at the base of Pikes Peak were rushed off the mountain.

Russ Buxton said he and three other hikers were returning from Barr Camp about 2:30 p.m. when they spotted the smoke, and it appeared the trail would lead them right into the flames.

“At that point, we were kind of hoping it would switch back the other way,” he said after they had gotten down safely.

The Cog Railway, which goes to the summit of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak, was shut down as a precaution after the last train returned about 1 p.m. Railway spokesman Dave Donatto said flames weren’t threatening the tracks, but the parking lot needed to be cleared for firefighters. The railway will resume trips up Pikes Peak this morning, he said.

The fire and the need to get emergency vehicles through the town’s narrow streets forced Manitou Springs School District 14 to cancel the homecoming parade Friday afternoon, Superintendent Roy Crawford said.

Friday afternoon, firefighters said the fire was gaining height as it burned through scrub oak along the Incline — a path up the steep mountainside that’s popular with hikers.

The fire, reported by a hiker, is under investigation, but Bellah said with no lightning in the area, a human cause is suspected.

“It is a little sad we’re going to have a scar here on the mountain here in Manitou Springs to look at for a while to come,” Hunting said.