 A blackened hilltop shows how close the Feb. 7 brush fire came to two homes in Mesa Road's 1700 block. Westside Pioneer photo
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Smoke was visible throughout the Westside for the 30-acre blaze that had flames shooting as high as 15 feet, according to Cathy Prudhomme of the Colorado Springs Fire Department.
The alarm came in at 2:31 p.m., and the last crew left at 7:07 p.m., she said.
The suspected cause was fireworks being set off in the roughly 50-acre park between the Mesa Springs and Mesa Road neighborhoods. The park is mostly natural, except for the privately leased Beidleman Center in its southeast portion, at the end of Caramillo Street.
“Witnesses saw kids in the area using the fireworks,” Prudhomme said. No arrests have been made, but an investigation is continuing, she added.
Fireworks in the park has been a problem in the past, commented one resident, Patrick Ward, who said he had previously “run off” kids who were setting them off.
The fire appears to have started in the park about a quarter of a mile west of the center, then moved up a steep hillside to threaten homes on Mesa Road and Broadview Place.
All three Westside fire stations (3, 5 and 9) sent firefighters and vehicles, along with seven other Colorado Springs stations.
The fire left blackened slopes where grass, yucca, cactus, scrub oak and trees had once existed. But Christina Randall, city wildland risk manager, predicted vegetation should start returning after the winter. “You'll be surprised,” she said. “We'll get some grasses this spring. It will be very pretty, actually.”
Westside Pioneer article