Raging Wildfire in South Jefferson County Forces Evacuations Near Deer Creek Canyon
Wildfires Force Evacuation of Hundreds of Homes in South Jefferson County
Hundreds of homes across multiple neighborhoods in unincorporated South Jefferson County were evacuated overnight and early Wednesday morning due to a rapidly growing wildfire. The fire, known as the Quarry Fire, had reached 200 acres by Wednesday afternoon and remained 0% contained.
According to Mark Techmeyer of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the fire is burning in difficult, rugged terrain filled with timber and scrub oak. Flames were reported reaching up to 50 feet high overnight.
One resident, David Minton, lives about a mile from the fire's origin in the Watson Gulch area. Minton and his wife had their camper packed and were ready to go when they received the evacuation order at 2am. Though an unsettling experience, Minton said he understood there was little he could do, noting "You just kind of have to roll with it."
Techmeyer warned that if the fire were to reach residential areas, firefighting priorities would shift from suppression to structure protection. He bluntly stated that "every neighborhood" with evacuated residents was at risk from the Quarry Fire, calling it not an easy fight" for crews.
The evacuation center at Dakota Ridge High School was filled with those displaced by the wildfire, many of whom had only just learned of the danger that morning when they saw sheriff's deputies arrive at their homes.