A wildfire sparked to life in the Copper Gulch area of the Deer Mountain Fire Protection District in rural Fremont County about 26 miles southwest of Cañon City Tuesday afternoon and about the same time another fire was reported in the Sand Gulch area near Wetmore.
The Maurice Fire was first reported shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in remote inaccessible terrain off of the Copper Gulch Road. A total of 50 firefighters from the Deer Mountain Fire Protection District and the Fremont County Wildland Fire team were joined by U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service firefighters to build a wet containment line around the 6-acre blaze, said Deer Mountain Fire Chief Todd Bell. He said it bordered the May, 2008 Ferguson Fire near Indian Wells Road. Cause of the fire is under investigation.
Because firefighting aircraft is stationed at the Fremont County Airport to fight the Duckett Fire, a water-dropping helicopter and a crew of three U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers worked to help fight the fire. The fire was 20 percent contained as of 9 p.m. and full containment is expected today.
In a separate fire, firefighters from the Wetmore Volunteer Fire Protection District quickly extinguished a quarter-acre blaze near the Sand Gulch Fire area that burned in May. The fire started about 4:30 p.m. and was believed to be caused by lightning, said volunteer firefighter Chas Clifton. The fire was believed to be on national forest land adjacent to the former Farley Ranch. (Information courtesy of Tracy Harmon-Pueblo Chieftain)