Grand County Sheriff Warns People To Obey Roadblocks: 'It's Unacceptable'

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin delivered a stern warning to people deliberately circumventing roadblocks at the East Troublesome Fire. He says the culprits are sneaking in to take pictures of damaged properties, as recently as Monday afternoon.

"People are finding out about their houses on Facebook or other mechanisms of social media, and it's unacceptable. These people are victims, they're in these neighborhoods. They deserve the right to have the contact and appropriate notification process," said Schroetlin.

The sheriff says deputies are having to be pulled from duties, like helping residents back into their property, in order to respond to people violating roadblocks.

"What this is doing is this is hampering our process. It's slowing us down," he said. "We'll issue tickets and citations as necessary."

Schroetlin says damage assessment teams are working through the snow to identify the number of structures lost, but did not have an exact number as of Monday evening.

The fire has burned 192,000 acres. While containment stands at 15%, fire officials believe that number will increase soon.

RELATED: 'It Was Total Devastation': Resident Who Lost It All Helping Other East Troublesome Fire Victims