DIVIDE, Colorado (KRDO) – KRDO13 investigates learned that the house that caught fire in Teller County, which spread to create the Highland Lakes wildfire, was in foreclosure and would soon be up for auction.

The Teller County Public Trustees Office confirmed KRDO13 investigates that the home at 13 Beaver Lake Circle would be auctioned Nov. 13, a little more than two weeks since the fire consumed the home in northwest Divide.

This week, the Teller County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) declared that the house fire was the primary cause of the wildfire, which ultimately endangered about 700 homes and left more than 2,000 people fleeing the area.

TCSO also stated that the house fire was caused by humans and remains under investigation.

TCSO officials have said they are in contact with the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office about possible criminal charges for those responsible. However, TCSO also says the fire investigation could also determine that the fire was simply an accident.

Roy Sutton lives on Beaver Lake Place, which is just up the hill where the fire occurred. he said KRDO13 investigates who knew the owner of the house that caught fire.

“We knew the only lady lived there, but we hadn’t seen her, like I literally hadn’t seen her in probably over a year, so we weren’t sure if she still lived there or was renting.” But apparently she was still there,” Sutton explained.

He explained that the fire started shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday, taking him and his wife by surprise.

“We were sitting watching TV, we heard a big sound. I thought someone had dropped something in front of our house or something. So I walked out the front door, there was nothing there. And my wife was getting up and (we) walked out and we looked at our back, which is facing the hill, and we saw the house on fire and we called 911 right away, but they said they already heard it,” Sutton explained.

He says the house burned down within the next hour and he didn’t actually know the fire was spreading to the grass and surrounding nature since it was in the opposite direction from his house.

“Everything was blowing, really to the east, away from us. We didn’t see any flames on the ground. All we saw was the house burning and collapsing,” said Sutton, who explained that in the next two hours after three, police and the agents appeared and went to the doors of other neighbors, where they were ordered to evacuate.

Sutton says Monday’s spectacle was deeply concerning, in a rural neighborhood that takes wildfire risks quite seriously.

“(It’s) scary because we always worry about it there,” Sutton said. “There are actually three houses on the top of the hill next to us and all three of our houses were mitigated, they just cut them down and everything, that same morning, like 11 a.m. that morning,” he later added.

At 12 noon on Wednesday, Sutton and other homeowners were finally allowed to return to their homes.

“We’re eager to get back as soon as we can. So that’s it. We stopped by (the sheriff’s office) as soon as we could to check things out,” he told KRDO13 investigates Wednesday morning.

KRDO13 investigates I have attempted to contact the person listed as the owner of the property through the Teller County Assessor’s records, but as of this publication we have not been able to contact them.