PUEBLO COUNTY

Oak Ridge fire is first to burn in area in 100 years

The Oak Ridge fire burning on more than 1,100 acres of U.S. Forest Service land in Pueblo County is the first on that area of land in more than 100 years, forest officials said Saturday.

“This has allowed the area between the Junkens fire burn scar to the north and the Mason Gulch fire burn scar to the south to become overgrown and dense,” forest officials said in a Saturday update. “If fuels aren’t reduced, it’s not a matter of if fire will occur, it’s a matter of when.”

As of Saturday morning, the Oak Ridge fire was burning on 1,156 acres of land in the Pike-San Isabel National Forests and was still 0% contained. That’s the size of 876 football fields and growing.

Although the Oak Ridge fire has grown slower than other Colorado wildfires, fire officials don’t expect the blaze to be contained for nearly a month. The fire’s estimated containment date is July 24.

Most of the land north, west and south of the fire is steep and rugged, making it difficult for firefighters to get close to flames and increasing the time it takes for crews to get to safety in the case of increased fire behavior or an accident, officials said in Saturday’s update.

Sparked by lightning, the wildfire was first reported June 22, 3 miles northwest of Beulah.

The Pike-San Isabel National Forests are shut down until July 26 from Forest Road 386 to the north to Colorado 78 to the south and Colorado 165 to the west.

NORTHERN WESTMINSTER

Man stabbed to death; police seek suspect

A man was stabbed to death in Westminster on Saturday morning, and police are searching for a suspect.

Westminster officers responded to reports of a stabbing in the 12000 block of Melody Drive about 9:10 a.m. Saturday, according to police. The area is near Willowbrook Park and the Wesley Chapel Cemetery in northern Westminster.

When officers arrived, they found an adult man with a stab wound to the chest. Paramedics transported the man to a hospital, where he died from his wounds.

Police said the unidentified suspect is described as a 6-foot 2, 180-pound Latino man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a brown or dark red hoodie and black pants. He may be armed with a knife. Anyone with information should call 911 or 303-658-4360.

DENVER

Two dead in suspected murder-suicide

Two people were killed Friday night in a suspected murder-suicide in Denver’s Hampden neighborhood, police said Saturday.

Denver officers were conducting a welfare check Friday night in the 9600 block of East Girard Avenue when they found a man and a woman dead in the Hampden home, police said in a statement on social media.

The two deaths are being investigated as a domestic-violence-related murder-suicide, police said. Information about how the victims were related to each other and what happened leading to their deaths was not available.

The medical examiner’s office will release the victims’ identities and cause of death at a later date.

— Lauren Penington, The Denver Post