DENVER | Authorities say a man accused of starting a southern Colorado wildfire that forced residents of more than 2,500 homes to evacuate has acknowledged building a fire but said he made sure it was out.
A court document says 52-year-old Jesper Joergensen initially said he had started a fire to burn trash but then said he had been grilling in a permanent fire pit the day before the blaze began. Joergensen, who reported the wildfire, said it started about 20 feet (6 meters) away from the fire pit Wednesday and he tried to put it out.
The arrest affidavit says about 25 buildings had been destroyed as of Thursday, when he was arrested.
The document says Joergensen, who is from Denmark, has been living in the country illegally. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer.
Immigration officials have requested that they be able to take custody of Joergensen if he is released from jail.
Firefighters are battling more than a half dozen wildfires around the state.
Most of the evacuations in effect Monday were due to a 78 square mile (202 square kilometer) wildfire in southern Colorado that authorities believe was human caused.
About 570 homes are evacuated near a 2.4 square mile (6.2 square kilometer) fire that started Friday near Florissant. About 360 children at a camp also had to be evacuated by the Chateau Fire.