DENVER (KDVR) Gov. Jared Polis verbally declared a Disaster Emergency for a wildfire that has ballooned after starting only six hours ago.
The fire began on Sunday afternoon, the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office reported that a structure fire started at 38 Spruce Circle in Pagosa Springs was forcing evacuations within a one-mile radius of the area.
Pagosa High School was set up as an evacuation center.
An update was provided around 4:30 p.m. that the fire started on Oak Drive and mandatory evacuations were ordered for areas up to the Elk Park Subdivision, which included Elk Park. Pre-evacuations were issued to North Pagosa Boulevard, north to Northlake Avenue, Park Avenue and Lake Shore Avenue.
The Governor’s Office said that the fire escalated rapidly and exceeded the capacity of local emergency response crews.
The sheriff requested that the Division of Fire Prevention and Control approve the incident as a State Responsibility fire.
With the disaster declaration, the State Emergency Operations and Resource Mobilization Plans are activated and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management are coordinating with the State Emergency Operations Center to support fire crews.
The “out of control” wildfire, deemed the Oak Fire, is burning west of Pagosa Springs and north of Highway 160.
Polis has authorized the use of the National Guard to suppress the fire.
