{"id":13841,"date":"2026-01-22T15:30:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cause-of-last-summers-elkhorn-fire-north-of-durango-remains-undetermined\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:02","slug":"cause-of-last-summers-elkhorn-fire-north-of-durango-remains-undetermined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cause-of-last-summers-elkhorn-fire-north-of-durango-remains-undetermined\/","title":{"rendered":"Cause of last summer\u2019s Elkhorn Fire north of Durango remains undetermined"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Elkhorn Fire in the Animas Valley started as a house fire and quickly spread to surrounding wildlands on July 26 north of Durango. (Courtesy of Dave Dillon)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The exact cause of the $5 million Elkhorn Fire in July north of Durango remains undetermined, though investigators have outlined several possible ignition sources.<\/p>\n

The Durango Fire Protection District said in a Wednesday news release that an investigation began immediately after the fire was reported on July 26.<\/p>\n

The fire began at an under-construction home at 151 Grouse Point Road, owned by Douglas and Helen McPhail, according to La Plata County GIS<\/a>. The release said the blaze cost the U.S. Forest Service about $5 million.<\/p>\n

That figure does not include costs incurred by DFPD and mutual aid resources, including the La Plata County Office of Emergency Management, Durango Police Department, La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Colorado State Patrol.<\/p>\n

No individual is being billed for the DFPD\u2019s response, said Fire Chief Randy Black in a text message.<\/p>\n

\"An
An air tanker drops fire retardant on the Elkhorn Fire on July 26 north of Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The fire burned about 300 acres in the Elkhorn subdivision north of Durango, according to fire-tracking service WatchDuty<\/a>. Evacuations were lifted Aug. 5, and the fire was declared 100% contained Aug. 10. The only structure lost was the one where the fire began.<\/p>\n

While the specific cause has not been determined, investigators confirmed the fire started in a human-made structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was determined the fire originated in or on the structure and not in nearby vegetation,\u201d the release said. \u201cThis determination was validated based on the initial data collected including the mass loss of the structure, wind direction, fire patterns and indicators and witness statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Elkhorn fire was reported just before 5 p.m. July 26, and investigators arrived on scene at 8:15 p.m. that evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestigators documented the scene of the structure fire and surrounding wildfire as well as obtained statements from responders first on scene,\u201d the release said. \u201cFire suppression continued for several days while fire scene examination and investigation activities focused on the origin and cause of the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 27, investigators interviewed the property owner and workers. Fire investigators from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control were dispatched July 29 and used an ignitable liquid detection dog and collected soil and debris samples for lab analysis.<\/p>\n

\"Randy
Randy Black, chief of Durango Fire Protection District, and Shawna Legarza, La Plata County Director of Emergency Management, look over the Elkhorn Fire on July 27 from where the fire started the previous day. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After reviewing the evidence, investigators hypothesized the fire may have started due to multiple potential ignition sources and flammable materials stacked around the property, the release said.<\/p>\n

A temporary power pole with a breaker box and multiple extension cords was being used to power tools, and based on witness statements, workers were seen smoking in and around the construction site, the release said.<\/p>\n

Rags soaked in flammable wood-treatment chemicals had been discarded around the structure. Large amounts of combustible construction waste materials were piled around the structure, especially near the front porch, and piles of unused materials were found in and around the home, the release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese hypotheses were tested against data analysis, physical evidence and observations as well as known testing related to ignition temperatures, fire behavior and fire dynamics,\u201d the release said. \u201cTherefore, the cause of this fire is undetermined, but investigators reserve the right to modify this determination should additional information, evidence or data become available.\u201d<\/p>\n

sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The Elkhorn Fire on July 27 burning on Missionary Ridge north of Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investigators cite multiple potential ignition sources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1480,28,993,994,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-fire-protection-district","tag-headlines","tag-investigation","tag-trueanthem","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19188,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13841\/revisions\/19188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13841"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}