No injuries were reported in a fire at a vacant building in Colorado Springs Sunday morning, officials say.
The fire department says fire crews responded around 10:15 a.m. to E. Platte Avenue near Iowa Avenue after receiving multiple 911 calls about smoke coming from a building.
A drone from the Real Time Crime Center was deployed and arrived within two minutes to help firefighters assess the fire before they got there. Firefighters requested more crews to help.
Firefighters went inside but pulled out when the roof started collapsing. They say about two-thirds of the roof collapsed. Some exterior walls also collapsed onto trees and vacant cottages nearby. The buildings involved were all vacant and boarded up, and no one has been reported injured.
The fire was in a building near The Black Sheep music venue, but officials said it was not damaged.
E. Platte Avenue shut down in both directions between Swope Avenue and E. Boulder Street. People were asked to avoid the area while crews investigate at the scene. The closure is expected to last about a few hours into the afternoon.
It's unclear at this time what caused the fire. Authorities are investigating and expect to know the cause later this week.
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Hundreds of people packed Acacia Park and the front of city hall in Colorado Springs for a No Kings rally, urging Southern Colorado residents to get informed and cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The scale of this year's ballot underscores the urgency demonstrators brought to the streets. In El Paso County, the Blue Book contains nine ballot issues alone. There are 14 measures statewide a significant number of decisions that attendees say requires careful, independent research.
"You have got to go out and do your own research to find out if this agrees and aligns with what you think. There's a lot of issues out there right now that are very confusing, so it's important," Jeanie McIntyre said.
Watch the video report below: Hundreds rally downtown to push Southern Colorado voters to the polls
Adding to the complexity, some of those measures co-align but are also different.
"Some are in conflict, direct conflict with each other, so it's important that people get informed and understand what they're voting for," Carrie O'Hara said.
Demonstrators said they also hope the rally encourages more people to register to vote alongside the nearly 500,000 registered voters already in El Paso County. O'Hara said the diversity of the crowd gave her hope.
"It's really encouraging to see lots of different people. I've seen people of all ages, different demographics, people who have been involved for a long time it seems like and then people like me. This is my first event," O'Hara said.
McIntyre said the message transcends any single issue.
"No matter how you feel about one policy or another, you have got to vote," McIntyre said.
"I wanted my voice to be heard and I wanted to do it besides being my vote," Laurie Sullivan said.
The call for civic action extended beyond the rally's regular attendees. Amanda and Sky Roberts, family of Epstein survivor Virginia Guiffre, also addressed the crowd, connecting accountability for those in power to the importance of exercising the right to vote.
"If protecting our children is a principle we can all agree on, if abusing a child is one of the most heinous acts a human being can commit and if presidents, princes and prime ministers are capable of that, then what else are they capable of? I don't ask that to make you angry. I ask it because anger that doesn't become action is just another distraction. In this country, your voice has power, and that power has a name. It's called a vote," Sky Roberts said.
During the speech, a counterprotestor carried a Soviet Union flag and got into a small altercation with some demonstrators. Sky Roberts addressed the moment directly from the stage.
"We don't sit here, we don't shove each other we use our voice, we use our vote," Sky Roberts said.
At Acacia Park, some younger voters also took the opportunity to share their perspectives about abortion. They carried a sign that said "abortion is murder."
"We're not necessarily here opposing the protest. We're here because there's people here and we're trying to start conversations to reach people and keep our free speech open and expose people to these conversations because most people in our culture are scared to have these conversations, and I think that's an awful thing. Mostly people trying to block the signs and mute our free speech," Elijah Barnes said.
But they also say listening to the other side was constructive.
"I've had a couple of really good conversations and people were very respectful and they listen to our points and we listen to their points and there's some research that needed to be done on both ends, and so we both shook hands at the end and agreed to go back home and do our research," Noah Montgomery said.
Regardless of where voters stand on the issues, those I spoke with at the rally agreed: Nov. 3 is the day that matters most.
"I think it is important for everyone to vote no matter who you're voting for. I think that is your civic duty to vote. Our whole country was based on that and we can't function if people don't show up and vote. That's basic premise," Nancy Briley said.
The semifinals are set for the high school flag football playoffs after some thrilling second and third round matches on Saturday. TCA and Vista Ridge are the final two Southern Colorado teams after winning both of their games on Saturday.
TCA will meet fourth seeded Green Mountain on Wednesday, while Vista Ridge is scheduled for a matchup with second seeded Mountain View.
Colorado Springs Christian, Palmer Ridge, and Doherty (class 5A) saw their hard-fought seasons come to a close in the second round. Liberty (class 5A) and Air Academy split their games on Saturday and were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
5A Second Round:
No. 1 Chaparral 59, No. 17 Doherty 0 The Spartans pulled off an upset win in the first round over Thunder Ridge but drew a tough matchup with top seeded Chaparral. Doherty finishes its season with a 9-8 record.
No. 10 Liberty 19, No. 7 Poudre School District 13 The Lancers won their first playoff game in dramatic fashion in the programs inaugural season. Trailing 13-6 in the fourth quarter, Lola Gartner evened the score with a long touchdown run and a one point conversion on a pass to Abby Stenerson.
Poudre had a chance to go ahead with just under three minutes to play but Sylvie Castonguay had other plans. Sylvie intercepted the pass attempt and ran it back more than 50-yards for the go ahead touchdown, serving as the game winner.
4A Second Round:
No. 1 TCA 39, Elizabeth 6
No. 5 Steamboat Springs 19, No. 12 CSCS 13
No. 3 Vista Ridge 27, No. 14 Palmer Ridge 0 Vista Ridge started the game with a strong defensive series that featured back-to-back sacks for a safety. The Wolves offense scored two touchdowns in the first half on passes from Aubrey Leong.
She connected with Isabella Waters in the first quarter and Arayah Johnson right before half time to give them a 14-0 lead. They opened the game with a long touchdown pass to Kayla Dempsey at the start of the third quarter.
No. 6 Air Academy 35, No. 11 Pomona 20 The Kadets have one of the best passing games in the state and that was on display early in this game. Nadia Anderson found Ayden Kissane in the end zone to open up the scoring. In the second quarter she found one of her favorite targets, Leah Dreesen, who made a contested catch through three defenders put Air Academy ahead two scores. Tess Heater was the defensive MVP as she came away with back-to-back interceptions in the first half, taking the second one back for a touchdown.
5A Quarterfinals:
No. 2 Legend 53, No. 10 Liberty 6
4A Quarterfinals:
No. 1 TCA 28, No. 8 Lutheran 24 TCAs chance at a second straight state title remains alive after surviving a close game with Lutheran. The Titans have reached the semifinals in all three years of CHSAAs flag football playoffs.
No. 3 Vista Ridge 32 , No. 6 Air Academy 6
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After a freezing start to Saturday across Southern Colorado, we are in the midst of a weekend warm-up under clear skies with highs climbing into the 70s. Tonight will be chilly, but noticeably warmer than Friday night into early Saturday.
An even warmer day Sunday, with more cloud cover and chances for a few weak mountain showers, especially late.
Colorado Springs Forecast: High: 75; Low: 47
Mostly sunny with a few more clouds building in. Slightly warmer, climbing into the mid-70s.
Pueblo Forecast: High: 79; Low: 42
Chilly start before another warm day. Temps climbing into the upper-70s.
Canon City Forecast: High: 79; Low: 50
A few clouds and warming up again. Afternoon high approaching 80 degrees.
Woodland Park Forecast: High: 64; Low: 38
Chilly start, then mostly sunny and mild.
Extended forecast: Staying mostly warm and quiet into early next week, though a weak system will knock Mondays highs down a few degrees. A more potent system arrives mid-week, bringing better chances for cooler temperatures and mountain rain and snow.
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