Fire Update as of early Thursday morning, April 21:
The fire that began on Wednesday north of U.S. 285 in the city of Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley, has been stopped from spreading, according to a press conference by the Monte Vista Police Chief and the Rio Grande County Sheriff on Wednesday evening. All residents have been accounted for.
The fire burned about 17 acres, but according to Monte Vista Police Chief George Dingfelder, the city doesn’t yet know how many structures have been lost. About 100 homes were in the initial evacuation area and about 20-30 homes remain under evacuation orders.
A fast-spreading wildfire on the north side of the town of Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley is forcing an immediate, mandatory evacuation. The Colorado Division of Fire Protection and Control has taken over incident command of the fire.
The Monte Vista downtown Historic District. Courtesy image.
The Rio Grande Sheriff’s Office has ordered mandatory evacuation orders for the north side of Hwy. 285 between Jefferson Street and North Henderson Road. This is a large area of businesses and residences, at least ten blocks in length and at least four blocks wide. A large portion of downtown Monte Vista is a National Historic District.
As first reported by 9News, Rio Grande Sheriff’s Office is telling people to avoid the entire area around the city while crews work to combat the fire. There is no word on what started the fire, but the county has been under a Red Flag warning all day.
The San Luis Valley Emergency Office says that an evacuation point is being set up at the Ski Hi Complex located at 2235 Sherman Ave.
The Monte Vista School District has evacuated Marsh Elementary School students to Bill Metz Elementary School, where parents can pick up their children. All other district schools are being released early because of power and water outages at all other school district buildings. The district is planning to run school buses on normal routes except in the evacuation areas where the fire is located.
The City of Monte Vista is the most populous municipality in Rio Grande County, with a city population of 4,444. According to a 9News on scene report, the Monte Vista Police Department, Monte Vista Fire Department, Del Norte Fire Department, and Alamosa Police Department also have units at the scene, and additional resources have been requested.
This is a developing situation and updates will be done as information is received.
Featured image: House fires can move rapidly, allowing only minutes to get to safety. Image courtesy of Pixabay.
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