Sterling police, sheriff teams contain grass fire at shooting complex

Sterling police had to cover a grass fire at the Logan County Shooting Sports Complex after Logan County sheriff units were unavailable, a quick response that kept a small blaze from becoming a larger problem at one of the county’s most exposed public properties.

Fire crews helped contain the fire rapidly at the more than 300-acre range southeast of Sterling, off Highway 61 near Interstate 76. The site is owned by Logan County and managed by the Logan County Commissioners. It was developed through cooperation among Logan County, the City of Sterling, the State Land Board, the Sterling Correctional Facility and Colorado Parks & Wildlife.

The complex is not staffed and operates from sunrise to sunset. County postings say it closes when the gates are closed, during maintenance and in high winds. The property includes rifle, pistol and archery areas as well as trap fields, and day-to-day operations are handled by Dave Appelhans.

The response mattered because the shooting complex has already become a recurring grass-fire concern for local responders. On April 2, 2025, a fire there was reported just after 2:30 p.m. and required countywide mutual aid. Crews described that blaze as wind-driven, and at one point thick smoke cut visibility to zero. It took about an hour to contain and roughly another hour to mop up. That response brought in help from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, local firefighters and a tractor and disk from Sonnenberg Farms.

A second grass fire at the same site on Jan. 2, 2026 was also contained after countywide mutual aid. It was reported around 2 p.m. and was contained by 3:15 p.m., again showing how quickly dry grass and wind can turn the open ground around the range into a fire risk.

Taken together, the three incidents show why the shooting complex is more than a recreation site. It is also open grassland, law-enforcement training ground and county-owned public property, which means a fast response from Sterling police, the sheriff’s office and fire crews can make the difference between a manageable spark and a countywide emergency.