A group of electrocuted birds sparked a Colorado wildfire that scorched nearly 16 acres of land and prompted evacuations.
The brush blaze broke out near the Denver water treatment plant in Roxborough Tuesday afternoon.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issued voluntary evacuation orders for the area as over 40 firefighters combated the blaze.
Video shows plumes of smoke rising from the ground as flames torched the vegetation and crews worked to contain the fire.
‘The fire was caused by a group of birds that were electrocuted by power equipment, caught fire and then fell to the ground, igniting the dry grass below,’ West Metro Fire said.
A group of electrocuted birds sparked a brush fire broke out near the Denver water treatment plant in Roxborough on Tuesday
The blaze scorched nearly 16 acres of land and prompted voluntary evacuations
A Douglas County helicopter crew assisted in putting out the fire as firefighters hosed down the flames.
The fire department said the blaze was contained after burning through 16 acres of land.
After the fire was contained and the evacuation was lifted, officials advised residents may still see smoke because small pockets of vegetation could be smoldering.
Despite being an usual cause, it is the third time this year a bird hitting electrical equipment has sparked a fire in Colorado according to 9News.
‘It’s not a common cause of wildfires because really 90% of wildfires are human-caused,’ Ronda Scholting, Public Information Officer for West Metro Fire, told the local news station.
‘So this is nature causing the fire. So it’s not as often that this happens as you might think. Obviously, there’s lots of birds, you see lots of birds on power lines, but it just happened in this case that a bird started the fire.’
A Douglas County helicopter crew assisted in putting out the fire
After the fire was contained and the evacuation was lifted, officials advised residents may still see smoke because small pockets of vegetation could be smoldering
On July 21, a fire that burned through three acres near The Fort restaurant in Jefferson County, according to West Metro Fire.
‘This fire was caused by a bird that was electrocuted by overhead power lines, caught on fire, and fell to the ground, where it ignited the grass and brush below,’ the department said.
On July 13, a bird that caught fire after coming into contact with electrical equipment sparked a blaze that burned more than 1,100 acres in Byers.
The fire destroyed one home and at least seven outbuildings, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators believe that a small bird contacted energized electrical equipment, caught on fire, then fell to the ground and ignited the vegetation.