Spring Fire Grows To 41,000+ Acres; ICE Places Detainer On Suspect

COSTILLA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - More than 2,000 homes have been evacuated in Costilla and Huerfano Counties due to the Spring Fire.

Sunday morning, officials said the fire has grown to 41,292 acres with no containment. It's burning east of Fort Garland.

Officials announced on Saturday they arrested a man accused of arson. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Jesper Joergensen.

ICE officials say Joergensen, who is from Denmark, is under an immigration detainer in Costilla County. They add they place "immigration detainers with law enforcement agencies on deportable aliens arrested and detained on criminal charges."

Firefighting efforts were hampered on Saturday because of a drone which caused all air operations to be halted. Officials stress and plead with the public to not fly drones over the fire as the aircraft can crash with one of theirs.

The Sheriff's Office and county assessors began identifying lost structures and who they belong to -- but an exact number of burned or destroyed structures has not been released.

Firefighters expect warm, dry and unstable conditions in their fight on Sunday. They say the fire was active on the northwest and southeast sides of Mt. Mestas, and continued growth was expected Sunday.

Highway 160 remains closed with no estimated time of reopening. Highway 12 is also closed in the Cuchara Valley area due to mandatory evacuations.

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