The burning carcass of an electrocuted bird was confirmed to be the cause of a July brush fire in Arapahoe County that burned more than 450 acres and destroyed property southeast of Byers, according to a report released Friday by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The Quail Hollow fire report from the Byers Fire Protection District and the Strasburg Fire Protection District states that on the morning of July 13, a small bird came into contact with an energized power pole on the south side of 2490 S. Quail Hollow Drive.
The bird’s burning body then fell into the vegetation at the base of the power pole, providing initial fuel for the fire, the report said.
Dry vegetation, high fuel levels in the region, winds and local topography favored the spread of the fire, the report said.
It was decided that the fire was an accident.
A residential building and at least twelve outbuildings were destroyed in the fire, the report said.
The Byers and Strasburg fire departments responded to the fire around 10:09 a.m. and reported a “slowly spreading southward medium fuel fire.”
Minutes later, the fire was upgraded to a “large brush fire” as flames reached thick timber, the report said. Response to the large brush fire in the I-70 corridor was activated and mutual aid was requested as the fire grew larger and spread.
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