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Spring Creek Fire (2018)

{{Short description|2018 wildfire in Colorado, United States}}

{{About|the wildfire in Costilla County, Colorado|the wildfire in Ventura County, California|Springs Fire|a novel released by Vin Packer|Spring Fire}}

{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}

{{use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Infobox wildfire

|title=Spring Creek Fire

|image=Spring Creek Fire burn scar.JPG

|caption=The burn scar west of Highway 12.

|cost=

|injuries=

|fatalities=

|reference={{cite web|title=Spring Creek Fire|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5875|website=InciWeb|publisher=US Forest Service|access-date=2018-07-13}}

|date={{Start date|2018|6|27}} – {{End date|2018|9|10}}

|location=Costilla and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States

|coordinates={{Coord|37|26|46.24|N|105|10|28.68|W|display=inline,title}}

|pushpin_map=Colorado

|pushpin_map_caption=The fire's location in southern Colorado

|area={{Convert|108045|acre|km2|0}}

|buildings=140{{cite news |last=Kackley

|first=Tom |date=2018-09-10 |title=Spring Fire now officially 100 percent contained |url=https://koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/2018/09/10/spring-fire-now-officially-100-percent-contained/ |work=KOAA News 5 |access-date=2018-09-11 }}

|cause=Arson

|landuse=

|perps=(alleged) Jesper Joergensen

|motive=}}

The Spring Creek Fire was a wildfire near Fort Garland and La Veta, Colorado in Costilla and Huerfano{{cite news |last=Paul |first=Jesse |date=2018-07-02 |title=Spring Creek fire suspect reported blaze and had burn marks as he spoke to authorities, arrest documents say |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2018/07/02/spring-creek-wildfire-arson-suspect/ |work=The Denver Post |access-date=2018-07-02 }} counties in southern Colorado. The fire burned a total of {{Convert|108045|acre|km2|0|abbr=off|sp=us}} and was the third-largest wildfire in Colorado history.{{cite news |last=Sevits |first=Kurt |date=2017-07-04 |title=Spring Fire now the 3rd largest in Colorado history at more than 94,000 acres |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/spring-fire-now-the-3rd-largest-in-colorado-history-at-more-than-94-000-acres |work=Denver7 & TheDenverChannel.com |access-date=2018-07-04 }}

Origin and trial

The Spring Creek Fire started on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 near Fort Garland, Colorado.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fox21news.com/news/local/spring-fire-grows-to-14-424-acres-highway-160-closed/1273276679|title=Spring Fire grows to 14,424 acres; Highway 160 closed|last=Case|first=Angela|date=2018-06-29|work=KXRM|access-date=2018-06-29|language=en-US}} Jesper Jørgensen (modified to Joergensen or Jorgensen in English), 52, a citizen of Denmark and reported by immigration authorities as being in the United States illegally because he had overstayed his visa, has been arrested and faces arson charges for allegedly starting the fire. He had been using a fire pit to grill food while camping in rural Colorado. Jørgensen claimed he was unaware of the open fire ban. He had presumed the fire in the pit was fully extinguished, but was woken from his afternoon nap by the smell of smoke a few hours later. He initially attempted to extinguish it himself, getting minor burns in the process, and when that failed he called 911. When the first firefighters arrived the fire had already engulfed trees and vegetation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/07/13/a-man-told-authorities-he-started-a-fire-to-grill-his-food-hes-now-facing-141-counts-of-arson/|title=A man told authorities he started a fire to grill his food. He's now facing 141 counts of arson|last=Phillips|first=Karen|date=2018-06-13|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2020-02-14}} The blaze was declared 100% contained on September 10, 2018. More than 140 structures were destroyed in the fire.

Shortly after his arrest in June 2018, Jørgensen was declared mentally incompetent, causing a delay in his case.{{Cite news|url=https://kydncountry.com/denmark-immigrant-due-in-court-today/|title=Denmark immigrant due in court today|last=Stacy|first=Sharron|date=2020-01-16|work=KYDN|access-date=2020-02-14}}

Evacuations

The Forbes Park neighborhood near Fort Garland was under mandatory evacuations during the fire.{{Cite news|url=https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/wildland/news/21011450/forbes-park-costilla-county-co-spring-fire-evacuation-firefighters|title=Hundreds Evac Ahead of Fast-Moving CO Blaze|work=Firehouse|access-date=2018-06-29|language=en}}

In Huerfano County, mandatory evacuations were ordered for Cuchara, Chama, Red Wing, Malachite, and Badito south of Highway 69. The community of Gardner was placed on "pre-evacuation" for a time.{{cite news |author= |title=New Mandatory Evacuations Issued In Spring Fire |url=https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/07/02/mandatory-evacuation-orders-spring-fire-jesper-jorgenson/ |work=4 CBS Denver |date=2018-07-02 |access-date=2018-07-02 }}

See also

{{Portal|United States|Colorado}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20180701194106/https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5875 Official National Wildfire Coordinating Group website for the fire]
  • [https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92415/fires-in-a-dry-hot-colorado-summer Satellite image of the burn scar]

Category:Wildfires in Colorado

Category:Huerfano County, Colorado

Category:Costilla County, Colorado

Category:2018 Colorado wildfires

Category:Arson in Colorado

Category:Wildfires caused by arson

Category:Arson in 2018

Category:2018 in Colorado

Category:2010s crimes in Colorado

Category:June 2018 crimes in the United States

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