Fire
On Saturday, June 30th, a man was arrested in connection with the Spring Fire in southern Colorado. According to The Denver Channel, Jesper Jorgensen was taken into custody by Costilla County deputies without incident. Jesper Jorgensen, 52, is a native of Denmark and was subsequently turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Jorgensen’s activity allegedly lead to the start of the wildfire. The Denver Channel reported that Jorgensen had been burning trash and grilling in a permanent grill pit on June 27th, the day the wildfire began. The wildfire began about 20 feet away from Jorgensen’s site, he had tried to put it out, but it quickly got out of hand and spread very quickly.
This summer, Colorado has been plagued by many severe wildfires, the Spring Fire being just one of the bigger ones. According to Newsweek, the Spring Fire first started on June 27th about 9 miles northeast of Fort Garland, Colorado. On Monday, July 2nd, the fire measured 56,820 acres and is alarmingly only 5 percent contained! More than 2,000 homes have been evacuated. Highway 160, just northeast of Ft. Garland, still remains closed due to wildfire activity.
Below is an interactive Google map to help understand the affected area. (provided by KRCC)
