Lake Christine Fire Evacuee Volunteers At Red Cross Shelter, Hoping Her Home Is Safe
BASALT, Colo. (CBS4)- The Lake Christine Fire will be getting more than double the amount of fire crews on Friday to help keep the wildfire from burning any more homes.
There are 200 crews fighting the wildfire that has burned nearly 5,000 acres near Basalt and destroyed three homes, two in the El Jebel city limits. On Friday, 300 more firefighters are expected to arrive.
There's no containment so far, but firefighters have managed to keep the fire from crossing Highway 82, the main highway between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.
Gov. John Hickenlooper will visit the Lake Christine Fire on Friday morning.
More than 500 homes are evacuated due to the fire. Evacuees can find shelter at either Basalt High School or Roaring Fork High School.
Inside the Red Cross evacuee shelter at Basalt High School, one evacuee is also busy volunteering.
"Neighbors were coming in, yelling, 'Please! Get out, get out now!' So, we went outside we saw the flames... we got in the car... we had five minutes and we got out," said evacuee Sharen Kurtz.
Sharen Kurtz isn't sure if her home is still standing but she has volunteered for the Red Cross for the past 15 years. When the organization came calling, she turned to what she knows best-- helping others.
"It helps me not to be so nervous, worrying about the house," said Kurtz.
In fact, the entire community has banded together in their time of need.
"The people are coming in have wanted to donate food, donate water. A lot of people have come in and said, 'I can take animals' and so we've got all of their names listed. Anything we need and we can call them right away," said Kurtz.
The Lake Christine Fire started on Tuesday when investigators said two people were shooting tracer rounds at a gun range. Both were cited.
Additional Resources
Call 970-510-0705 for more information about the fire. The Eagle County Sheriff Facebook page is also providing official updates on the fire.
Wildfire Resources
- Visit CBSDenver.com's Living With Wildfire section.
Wildfire Photo Galleries
- See images from the most destructive wildfires (Black Forest, Waldo Canyon, High Park and Fourmile), the deadliest (Storm King) and largest wildfire (Hayman) in Colorado history.
