Elephant Butte Fire: 0% Containment, About 1,000 Evacuations In Place In Evergreen

EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4) - A total of approximately 1,000 evacuations remain in place in Evergreen Tuesday morning due to the Elephant Butte Fire. Colorado firefighters said on Tuesday morning that so far there is no containment on the fire, but they are hoping to make the most of the cooler weather conditions to try to get the wildfire under control.

Firefighters have been heavily relying heavily on air support since the fire broke out on Monday in Jefferson County because the steep, rocky terrain is so difficult to work with. It is burning on Upper Bear Creek Road west of the Evergreen Golf Course, and started at at 2:45 p.m.

Evergreen Middle School is reopening Tuesday morning as an evacuation center if if any evacuees need a place to go.

The last estimate on the size of the fire was 50 acres, but officials expect to update that once crews get their aircraft up again Tuesday morning. No one has been injured, and no structures have burned.

Their goal is to get the fire contained quickly because hotter temperatures are on the way in the next couple of days.

"We're thinking today with the temperatures being a little lower, there's more humidity in the air, that we'll really be able to attack it hard," said Evergreen Fire Rescue spokeswoman Stacee Martin.

The thermometer is only expected to climb to between 72 and 78 degrees in Evergreen on Tuesday.

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Per the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the evacuation area is as follows: Upper Bear Creek Road south to Brook Forest Road east to Highway 73. Large animals and livestock can be taken to the county fairgrounds. Pets can be taken to the Foothills Animal Shelter in Golden.

The Evergreen Lake House is closed as it is being used as a command center for firefighters. Jeffco Open Space also closed the Alderfer/Three Sisters Park because of the fire.

It's not clear so far how the fire started.

Jefferson County is currently under a stage 2 fire ban. The ban, which applies to all land in Jefferson County, prohibits recreational fires, fireworks, shooting tracer rounds and open burning including bonfires that require a permit.

"This is just a good reminder as to why we're in that fire ban -- we're trying to prevent these sort of fires so please adhere to that," said Jefferson County Sheriff's spokesman Mike Taplin.

For more information on the fire restrictions in the county, go to jeffco.us/511/Fire-Restrictions-Bans.