The Quarry fire in Jefferson County reached a quarter mile from the closest structure Thursday despite an increase in resources.
"We have three big fires in the state of Colorado, but national news is focusing on this one," Mark Techmeyer, the director of public affairs for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, said during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
The office was unable to provide the current size of the fire, but it covered more than 341 acres with 0% containment.
"One, this is one of the most densely populated (areas) and it has proven to be absolutely one of the most challenging firefights I've seen in my 15-to-20 years doing this," Techmeyer said.
Boots on the ground is going to be the way local departments defeat the wildfire, which began raging Tuesday, he said. Air support is also important.
In positive news, according to Techmeyer, the firefighting team was able to double its resources Thursday with 155 firefighters, as opposed to the 75 the day prior. They also added 23 different fire apparatus, like trucks.
"They're coming mainly from here as they're being freed up and coming back from out of state," Techmeyer said of the new firefighters joining the battle. "We have 23 rigs. They're from everywhere in the state. We're here in southwest Jefferson County. I've got an Elizabeth Fire Department rig out there."
Some came from Durango.
Early Thursday, it was announced the SWAT team of wildland crews joined the firefight.
Durango's San Juan Interagency Hot Shots added an elite team of 20 firefighters whose specialty is attacking fires on steep mountainsides. The team travels the region tackling fires which erupt in difficult terrain.
Temperatures in the upper 90s were hard on crews battling the spot fires in Deer Creek Canyon Wednesday.
Four firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and another had a seizure, but all were doing fine Thursday morning and no homes were lost overnight in the fire which started as a ten-by-ten foot square in open space Tuesday night at around 9 p.m. No fighters went down with heat exhaustion on Thursday, despite the soaring heat without a glimpse of incoming rain.
Despite a potential rattlesnake problem, none of the crews were bitten.
But with resources, Techmeyer said they could always use more.
"Instead of 175 boots on the ground, I'd love to see 400," he said.
"The additional resources have been fabulous to have," Stacey Martin, a Jefferson County spokesperson and assistant chief of the Evergreen Fire Protection District said. "What we have right now is working well. I will admit, that's very steep up there. It's hard work... It's going to be a hard fight."
The mission remains the same — keeping the fire on the other side of Deer Creek Canyon and away from residential areas, but the fire is up against it, Techmeyer said.
But, without a change in humidity or rain, Techmeyer still believes that they will be able to put the fire out, though he cannot predict how long it will take.
"We don't need Mother Nature to come here and save us," Techmeyer said. "We're going to put this out with our own savvy, our own hard work and our own resources... We're going to get this thing."
Techmeyer added that there are around 65 people at the nearby evacuation center and around 15 staying there after nearly 600 homes were evacuated in Jefferson County.
The evacuation center — operated by the Red Cross at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton — is not as packed as centers up near the Alexander Mountain fire, which has led to more than 4,000 homes being evacuated.
The evacuees remain positive despite staring potential disaster in the face a few miles away.
"We've had people reach out to us with places to stay, but because we had to leave around 2 a.m., we came here first," Connie Anest said about the evacuation center. "We're going to stay here. They're treating us like royalty."
Anest, her husband Bruce West, and their two dogs, Linus and Maggie got the call to evacuate their home of 30 years around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning — the first time in their three decades in Jefferson County.
Their home, up Deer Creek Canyon, remains the furthest north area evacuated while the fire spreads westward.
"I'm not really thinking about it," Anest said.
"It's about having faith in the professionals," West added. "Everyone is up there busting their butts to save everything... In a time where nationally, everything is so messed up, you come out here and see the goodness in humanity."
"The response has been overwhelming. Unbelievable," said Kevin Dickens, a neighbor of Anest and West that's staying at a nearby hotel with his wife, two dogs and two cats. "There was no way anybody missed you. My buddy up the hill said there was a sheriff knocking on my door right after I left. They're doing door-to-door and we're pretty far away from that fire."
Though all three were appreciative of the crews and their work, they defined the evacuation experience as a bit overwhelming.
After waking up in the middle of the night to multiple texts, Dickens noticed alerts about his neighborhood being evacuated.
"I ran out the door and didn't see anything around me. I didn't panic too bad," he said. "Everyone was asleep. We shot phone calls off and said, 'There's a fire some place.' All of a sudden, people were running down the road blowing their horns and stuff."
"We're going, 'Those damn kids'," West joked.
"I'm freaked out, dude," Dickens said. "I've lived there since 1989. I've lived in that canyon for 40 years... I've got a lot of friends up there. I know a lot of people on the north side of the road, which is really scary. We're all texting each other with fingers crossed."
"If you're not worried, you're not very smart," Maribeth Schultz said.
Schultz and her husband have lived in the South Valley Park area of Littleton for 11 years — the current end of Deer Creek Canyon Road before shutoff.
Both stood, watching helicopters scoop water from a nearby pond and travel back up toward the wavering smoke.
"We're thinking about relocating to the coast of Oregon for two months out of the summer," she laughed. "These fires have been constant."
There are around 600 people still evacuated from five subdivisions as of Thursday morning with five others on pre-evacuation notice.
The areas still evacuated are: Deer Creek Mesa, Sampson, Maxwell, McKinney, and Murphy subdivisions.
Those areas on pre-evacuation orders are: Hillsdale, Oehlmann, Homestead, Silver Creek and Silver Creek South.
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