March 19 update: Fire mostly contained, started by a downed Aspen tree on a remote powerline: https://wetmountaintribune.com/2026/03/19/buttermilk-pine-ranch-fire-started-by-a-downed-powerline-currently-75-contained/
Westcliffe, CO 4:55 p.m. March 18
A fire started burning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains west of Westcliffe in Custer County, Colorado, at around 2:30 p.m.
The current cause of the fire is unknown, but the location of the fire is up against the national forest boundary of the San Isabel forest, 2 miles north of the Historic Pines Ranch.
The fire spread quickly over dry grassland and entered the mixed Ponderosa forest. While the wind was originally from west to east, the normal pattern, at 4:15 p.m. it shifted, blowing northeast to southwest.
There was some crowning of the fire, and full trees erupted in flames.
Local fire crews from the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District and Deer Mountain Fire battled the eastern edge of the grassland fire using overland equipment, and they appear to have stopped all eastern movement of the fire as winds blow the smoke and flames up the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
A fixed-wing fire-monitoring airplane arrived at 4:15 p.m. to spot flames within the fire boundary in the trees and monitor hotspots.
A fire helicopter capable of bucketing water arrived at 4:30 and started dropping water in the tree line. It was pulling water from a cattle pond located on the Rusk Ranch.
More updates will follow.
Jordan Hedberg
