All evacuation orders for Highland Lakes Fire in Teller County have been lifted

COUNTER COUNTY, Colo. – All evacuation orders from the Highland Lakes Fire were lifted at noon Wednesday as the investigation into the origins of the fire continues.

Residents must present a valid ID or proof of residency to enter the area. The checkpoint is at County Road 51 and 511. Other people will be allowed in at 4 p.m., according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.

Teller County Sheriff’s Office

Firefighters will still be working in the area, the sheriff’s office added.

Evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The Highland Fire started burning near Divide on Monday. From Tuesday eveningit was 166 hectares in size and is 60% contained. In total, about 700 homes were evacuated and one was destroyed. The fire, which was caused by a person or people, started at a home and spread outside, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said Tuesday morning. He cannot say exactly where and how the fire started, or whether a suspect has been identified.

He said investigators are treating the fire as a criminal act.

As residents returned home Wednesday, the sheriff’s office explained how this fire behaved differently than others.

“This fire was different from the other fires we have experienced in the province because the high winds prevented plumes of smoke from rising into the air,” he said. the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post. “So although a fire was present and remained dangerous, it was not visible from a distance. This may have led some people to believe that the fire posed no threat to the evacuated areas and caused some frustration. Please keep in mind that we in Colorado have some of the best firefighters in the world, and it is with their expertise that we conduct evacuations. Rest assured that returning residents to their homes is always paramount, but we must ensure that returning residents do not endanger themselves or their neighbors and do not otherwise disrupt the efforts of firefighters and other first responders will distract or hinder.”

Teller County is currently under a phase 3 fire ban. This prohibits slash burning, outdoor burning, outdoor cooking, outdoor smoking, outdoor welding (unless approved), fireworks, model rockets, explosives and recreational shooting.