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Authorities arrested a Dane linked to the cause of a destructive fire in southern Colorado that has reached more than 40,000 acres and forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes.
The Costilla County Sheriff's Office classified the fire, known as the Spring Fire, as "the man caused" and stated that the deputies had arrested Jesper Joergensen, 52, on charges of arson, he said in a Saturday Facebook post
clarified that the person they had detained had not intentionally lit the fire. They did not provide any other details and sheriff officials were not immediately available for further comments.
In a statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that Mr. Joergensen was a resident of Denmark. The agency said it placed an immigration detainee on him Thursday after his arrest. It was not clear when he had a lawyer
The fire that began Wednesday, near Fort Garland, Colorado, 250 miles south of Denver, raged for days and razed an undetermined number of structures.
"It's a very difficult fire, I'll be honest with you, with all the wind changes," Shane Greer, an incident commander told residents Sunday. "We have not been able to pursue it because it continues in at least three different directions.Every time we turn, it changes and moves."
Yet, spring fire is the only one second largest of about 10 wildfires across the state. The 416 fire, about 175 miles to the west, burned over 47,000 acres in June and was contained 37 percent late Saturday.
High summer temperatures have combined gusty winds, prolonged and severe drought. The abundance of available fuels – such as dry wood, scrub and vegetation – to create an early fire season in the western United States.
Residents of parts of Huerfano and Costilla Counties have been ordered to evacuate. One of the evacuated areas was Forbes Park, which contains more than 3,300 lots of up to 14 acres.
"Are you all doing O.K. today? Hanging there? Greer asked residents Sunday, "We know it's hard."
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