Wildfire That Consumed 23 Homes In Colorado Was Human-Caused

Although the actual cause of last week’s more than 42,000-acre grass fire in southern El Paso County hasn’t been determined, authorities said Saturday that it was started by a person. That merely rules out lightning as the cause, and does not indicate that investigators have determined whether it was deliberate or accidental. County officials have said they believe the fire started Tuesday in the vicinity of mile marker 117 on Interstate 25,and Sheriff Bill Elder said at a news conference Wednesday that the blaze that burned for about two days before being contained and destroyed 23 homes could have been started by a discarded cigarette or a spark thrown off by a passing vehicle.