A fire has sparked near a trail in the area of Colorado’s 5th-highest peak on the evening of August 17.

According to an August 18 post at 5:57 p.m. from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, a wildfire started near La Plata Trail in Chaffee County, having since crossed into neighboring Lake County. This is in the area of La Plata Peak, which is one of the state’s more popular fourteeners with a summit elevation of 14,344 feet.

At last report, the blaze was estimated to be 15 to 20 acres in size with no containment, burning in high-elevation terrain. The entirety of the fire was last reported to be in federal land. More specifically, the wildfire start was located about two miles north of La Plata Peak, west of Twin Lakes and south of Highway 82. According to the Chaffee County Government, it is believed to be human-caused.

Per the August 18 announcement of the fire, since dubbed La Plata fire, there were no evacuation or pre-evacuation notices. Forest Service firefighters were on scene working the blaze at last report.

Additional updates related to the fire can be found on the Watch Duty website, the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, or the Chaffee County Government Facebook page.

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