Evacuation orders were issued east of Colorado Springs on Thursday after a “rapidly moving” grass fire sparked in El Paso County, sheriff’s officials said.
The heart of the fire is burning near Drennan Road and South Meridian Road but flames are moving north toward Colorado 94, said Sergeant Kurt Smith with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
That intersection is less than 9 miles east of the Colorado Springs Airport.
Smith said mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for Gusty Bluffs Point and Meridian Road north to Colorado 94 and Franceville Coal Mine and east to the border of Schriever Space Force Base in Ellicott.
Information on the size of the fire and its cause are both unknown, Smith said. He said fire crews’ main priority for the “rapidly moving fire” is getting it under control.
The Cimarron Hills Fire Department is in charge of the fire and crews from the Colorado Springs Fire Department are also on scene.
El Paso and Teller County residents can sign up for emergency alerts online.
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