The grass fire led to evacuations and destroyed a home, but was contained by firefighters within hours.
BERTHOUD, Colo. — Monday's blustery afternoon brought scary moments for families living in Rainbow Lakes Estates near Berthoud after a grass fire sparked evacuations and burned a home.
Living in the shadow of the foothills, the fear of fire is never far from folks' minds.
"You always see people burning stuff and it doesn't take much to get out of control," said Jason Slauson, who had to evacuate from his home Monday due to the fire.
Worrying about wildfire is a feeling Sydney and Jason Slauson know all too well. They were coming back from grabbing groceries when their neighbor called to tell them there was a grass fire.
"I told these guys these guys to pack a bag and make sure that they had whatever they needed for a quick getaway," Jason said.
The grass fire picked up traction through the afternoon. A home close to the Slauson's burned down.
"It's like really, really close. Like a mile probably away," Sydney said.
"At the west part of the neighborhood, you could see flames from that other property," Jason said.
Mandatory evacuations went in place for their neighborhood soon after the fire began Monday afternoon. Voluntary evacuations were encouraged in a number of places nearby.
With the Marshall Fire on their minds, the Slausons moved quickly.
"It's at the top of your mind and so you're obviously concerned and stuff. So we had took videos before we left, grabbed the pets and then got out of there," Jason said.
First responders moved in quickly.
"I heard like sirens going off within two minutes. I heard sirens going off a lot," Sydney said.
"Then they went door to door, marked everybody's mailbox," Jason said.
Within hours, firefighters had the fire fully contained. No one was injured and 30 acres were burned.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office says one house was damaged by the fire and they believe the fire started near the home.
"Our hearts go out to the people that lost the house. But again, thankful for the fire department, the sheriff's department," Jason said.
Sam Taggart, communications director with Poudre Valley REA said two power poles were burned in the grass fire on Monday. Crews were out within hours to replace them and restore power for the area.
Sydney and Jason said they're relieved to be going back home so quickly, grateful this wasn't worse, at least for them.
"For us, the power will come back on. For the people that lost the house, that's…," Jason said, pausing.
"It's unfortunate," Sydney added.
"Yeah," Jason said.
As for what caused the fire, officials say that's still under investigation.