Firefighters have fully contained a grass fire that burned near houses in unincorporated Douglas County on Tuesday morning, according to South Metro Fire Rescue.

The fire, dubbed the Chatridge 3 fire, sparked at around 10:45 a.m. on the east side of U.S. Highway 85, firefighters said. The blaze burned 24 acres within an hour.

Firefighters said the fire was spreading toward houses, resulting in structure protection being set up for one home. A pre-evacuation order was issued for the Chatfield Estates neighborhood.

Firefighters reached full containment of the blaze just before noon, though they stayed at the scene throughout the day to put out hot spots.

“There’s still a considerable amount of smoldering material that firefighters will be working to get 100% extinguishment on today, not only because of the gusty winds and dry conditions right now, but the forecasted dangerous winds that are coming (Wednesday),” said Eric Hurst with South Metro Fire Rescue.

The National Weather Service predicts wind gusts of up to 80 mph Wednesday evening throughout the Front Range and Eastern Plains.

No structures were damaged and no one was injured by the fire. Hurst said investigators are unable to determine what sparked the fire, though its origin was determined to be the northeast corner of U.S. 85 and Chatridge Court.

The Chatridge 3 fire comes less than two years after the Chatridge 2 fire burned 461 acres near the same area in June 2020. Before that, the first Chatridge fire burned 205 acres in October 2016.

According to South Metro Fire Rescue, both of the previous fires were caused by an electrical malfunction on a power pole.