The firefighter didn’t reach three homes because their driveways were blocked, Hatlestad said. One of the three addresses was the home of Ann Appel, who is believed to have died.

The firefighter was following standard safety procedures when he didn’t enter the closed-off properties and instead went on to warn other residents, Hatlestad said. There was smoke but no fire in the area at the time, he said.

Appel’s family said it would have taken three minutes to walk from the chain to the house.

“Was three minutes too much to warn a resident who had reported the smoke two hours earlier that it was now time to evacuate?” the family said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press late Monday by Appel’s sister-in-law, Susan Appel Sorenson.

Hatlestad declined to comment on the family statement, saying he hadn’t seen it.

The March 26 wildfire scorched 6 square miles and damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes in the mountains southwest of Denver. Authorities believe three people died, including Appel.

The timing of the evacuation notices has raised questions about how authorities and residents responded, particularly in the first hours of the fire. Worried residents who called 911 to report smoke were initially told by dispatchers that it came from a prescribed burn that was conducted four days earlier.

Appel was among the early callers, according to audio recordings and documents released by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. She was told crews were on the way.

Later, when the dispatchers realized a wildfire was racing through the heavily timbered area, they told callers to leave.

Jefferson County authorities began sending evacuation notices by automated phone calls shortly after 5 p.m., but the first wave went to the wrong list of numbers. A second, corrected wave of automated calls began at about 5:23 p.m.

Appel’s family said the chain across the driveway had been put in place at the suggestion of the sheriff’s department after a burglary years earlier.

“The family understood that fire departments were equipped to open these security devices in the event of an emergency,” the statement said.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley declined to comment on the family’s assertions about the chain.

It wasn’t immediately clear what time the firefighter encountered Appel’s driveway, but other firefighters returned there at about 8 p.m. and found the house destroyed and nearby trees on fire, Hatlestad said. Firefighters made a “rapid search” of the area and then responded to other calls, he said.

The volunteer firefighter began going house-to-house at about 4 p.m., Hatlestad said, and between 4:20 and 4:30 p.m., the firefighter told Sam Lucas to evacuate.

Lucas was loading things into a vehicle, Hatlestad said, apparently in anticipation of an evacuation.

When the firefighter told Lucas “It’s time to go,” Lucas said something about his home’s fire suppression system, although the firefighter didn’t remember Lucas’ exact words, Hatlestad said.

“Right now you need to get out of here,” the firefighter recalled telling Lucas.

The Jefferson County documents show Lucas had called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. — roughly two hours before his conversation with the firefighter — to report smoke and was told it was a prescribed burn.

Lucas was 77, and his wife, Linda, was 76.

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The March 26 wildfire scorched 6 square miles and damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes in the mountains southwest of Denver. Authorities believe three people died.

The timing of the evacuation notices has raised questions about how authorities and residents responded, particularly in the first hours of the fire. Worried residents who called 911 to report smoke were initially told by dispatchers that it came from a prescribed burn that was conducted four days earlier.

Later, when they realized a wildfire was racing through the heavily timbered area, dispatchers advised callers to leave. Authorities said an ember from the prescribed burn apparently caused the wildfire.

Jefferson County authorities began sending evacuation notices by automated phone calls shortly after 5 p.m., but the first wave went to the wrong list of numbers. A second, corrected wave of automated calls began at about 5:23 p.m.

In a written release and an interview, Hatlestad said the volunteer firefighter began going door-to-door at about 4 p.m., approaching homes in the fire’s path with his vehicle’s lights and siren on. The firefighter’s name wasn’t released.

Between 4:20 and 4:30 p.m., the firefighter spoke to Sam Lucas, who was later found dead at his home along with his wife, Linda, Hatlestad said.

Lucas was startled by the firefighter’s approach, Hatlestad said. Lucas was loading things into a vehicle, apparently in anticipation of an evacuation.

When the firefighter told Lucas “It’s time to go,” Lucas said something about his home’s fire suppression system, although the firefighter didn’t remember Lucas’ exact words, Hatlestad said.

“Right now you need to get out of here,” the firefighter recalled telling Lucas.

Audio recordings and documents released by Jefferson County show Lucas had called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. — roughly two hours before his conversation with the firefighter — to report smoke and was told it was a prescribed burn.

After speaking with Lucas, the firefighter tried to approach three other homes but found their driveways blocked by a gate, a trailer or chains, Hatlestad said. One was the home of Ann Appel, who is believed to have died in the fire.

There was smoke but no fire around the blocked-off driveways at the time, Hatlestad said, and the firefighter, following standard safety procedures, didn’t attempt to enter the closed-off properties but moved on to alert other residents.

Appel had called 911 to report smoke about 15 minutes after Sam Lucas and was told crews were on the way.

It wasn’t immediately clear what time the firefighter encountered Appel’s driveway, but other firefighters returned there at about 8 p.m. and found the house destroyed and nearby trees on fire, Hatlestad said. Firefighters made a “rapid search” of the area and then responded to other calls, he said.

Hatlestad said a number of residents declined to evacuate when warned by firefighters, but he did not know how many. He said firefighters took their names and addresses.

Hatlestad said some people also ignored firefighters’ attempts to keep them out of the area after the fire broke out, driving around a fire truck that had maneuvered in the road as a roadblock.

He did not know how many people drove around the roadblock but said the practice continued until a Colorado State Patrol trooper arrived.

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Glenn Davis, who said his friends were forced from their homes by the fire, peppered Duda with questions at a news conference and said he wants changes in how prescribed burns are conducted.

“People up here want accountability,” Davis said. “Telling me, ‘I’m sorry,’ doesn’t really make a difference.”

Hickenlooper said the ban on prescribed fires on state lands, including state parks, would be in effect until a review of the wildfire is complete.

The ban doesn’t affect land controlled by the federal government — which accounts for more than one-third of Colorado. However, Hickenlooper urged counties and federal agencies to also consider suspending such burns for now.

Meanwhile, some 400 firefighters from several states were focusing on building containment lines around the wildfire. Until Wednesday, the fire’s erratic pattern forced firefighters to focus on protecting homes, not stopping the burn. The fire was 15 percent contained Wednesday afternoon, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said.

Air tankers dropped retardant and two National Guard helicopters dropped water to assist firefighters on the ground. Smoke from the fire created haze around Denver, obscuring views of the Rocky Mountains.

As crews dug lines around the fire’s perimeter, a search team was using dogs to look for a woman missing in the fire zone. Her home was among 27 destroyed or damaged in the blaze.

The bodies of Sam Lamar Lucas, 77, and Linda M. Lucas, 76, were found earlier this week at their destroyed home. Their cause of death was pending.

Neighbor Eddie Schneider said he’s not sure the couple ever received an automated phone call telling them to leave. Schneider left his home after a firefighter knocked on his door.

Hickenlooper said he doesn’t blame some of the 900 evacuated homeowners in the mountains southwest of Denver for being angry.

“Their houses have been destroyed. Their lives have been changed forever. It’s not their fault,” he told KOA radio.

Later Wednesday, some local sheriff’s deputies started taking owners of destroyed homes into the burn area to see what was left. On a tour for reporters, thin white smoke rose from valleys. Charred appliances were all that remained of some homes.

The Intermountain Rural Electric Association said 267 structures are without power, and about two to three miles of electric lines will have to be rebuilt.

A Forest Service manager who helps plan for prescribed burns, Jane Lopez, said the state usually performs them only in spring and fall. Prescribed burns are planned as far as three years in advance, she said, but they don’t go forward unless weather conditions meet requirements. She said everything was done properly.

“You don’t burn unless all the parameters are met,” Lopez said. She didn’t comment on the governor’s planned burn order but said, “We’re at the end of the prescribed burn season anyway.”

Conifer resident Don Heiden, who was displaced by the fire, said he wasn’t ready to blame the government.

“Accidents happen. If there was negligence, they’ll figure it out,” said Heiden, who was watching televised aerial shots to see if his home was still standing. “To me, it’s more of an act of God.”

For years, fire agencies have used controlled burns to pre-empt devastating wildfires by consuming fuel. Officials credited such an operation with helping save hundreds of homes during a 2002 Colorado wildfire that did destroy 133 homes.

A few controlled burns have escaped firefighters’ control.

One of the worst cases was in New Mexico in 2000. A prescribed burn set by the National Park Service in Bandelier National Monument, west of Los Alamos, blew out of control, and all of Los Alamos was evacuated. More than 400 families lost their homes and more than 115 Los Alamos National Laboratory buildings were destroyed or damaged. The federal government paid $455 million in compensation.

The Park Service resumed prescribed burns a year later with new rules, including having outside experts check burn plans.

The fire threat in much of Colorado has grown during an unusually dry and warm March. Several counties, including Jefferson, have implemented fire restrictions affecting campfires, fireworks and smoking in fire-prone areas.

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Associated Press writers Rema Rahman, Steven K. Paulson and Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed to this report.

Hickenlooper said the ban on prescribed fires on state lands, including state parks, would be in effect until a review of the wildfire is complete.

The ban doesn’t affect land controlled by the federal government — which accounts for more than one-third of Colorado. However, Hickenlooper urged counties and federal agencies to also consider suspending such burns for now.

Meanwhile, some 400 firefighters from several states were focusing on building containment lines around the wildfire. Until now, the fire’s erratic pattern has forced firefighters to focus on protecting homes, not stopping the burn. The fire was 15 percent contained Wednesday afternoon, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said.

Air tankers dropped retardant and two National Guard helicopters dropped water to assist firefighters on the ground. Smoke from the fire created haze around Denver, obscuring views of the Rocky Mountains.

As crews dug lines around the fire’s perimeter, a search team was using dogs to look for a woman missing in the fire zone. Her home was among 27 destroyed or damaged in the blaze.

The bodies of Sam Lamar Lucas, 77, and Linda M. Lucas, 76, were found earlier this week at their destroyed home. Their cause of death was pending.

Neighbor Eddie Schneider said he’s not sure the couple ever received an automated phone call telling them to leave. Schneider left his home after a firefighter knocked on his door.

Hickenlooper said he doesn’t blame some of the 900 evacuated homeowners in the mountains southwest of Denver for being angry.

“Their houses have been destroyed. Their lives have been changed forever. It’s not their fault,” he told KOA radio.

Later Wednesday, some local sheriff’s deputies started taking owners of destroyed homes into the burn area to see what was left. On a tour for reporters, thin white smoke rose from valleys. Charred appliances were all that remained of some homes.

A Forest Service manager who helps plan for prescribed burns, Jane Lopez, said the state usually performs them only in spring and fall. Prescribed burns are planned as far as three years in advance, she said, but they don’t go forward unless weather conditions meet requirements. She said everything was done properly.

“You don’t burn unless all the parameters are met,” Lopez said. She didn’t comment on the governor’s planned burn order but said, “We’re at the end of the prescribed burn season anyway.”

Conifer resident Don Heiden, who was displaced by the fire, said he wasn’t ready to blame the government.

“Accidents happen. If there was negligence, they’ll figure it out,” said Heiden, who was watching televised aerial shots to see if his home was still standing. “To me, it’s more of an act of God.”

For years, fire agencies have used controlled burns to pre-empt devastating wildfires by consuming fuel. Officials credited such an operation with helping save hundreds of homes during a 2002 Colorado wildfire that did destroy 133 homes.

A few controlled burns have escaped firefighters’ control.

One of the worst cases was in New Mexico in 2000. A prescribed burn set by the National Park Service in Bandelier National Monument, west of Los Alamos, blew out of control, and all of Los Alamos was evacuated. More than 400 families lost their homes and more than 115 Los Alamos National Laboratory buildings were destroyed or damaged. The federal government paid $455 million in compensation.

The Park Service resumed prescribed burns a year later with new rules, including having outside experts check burn plans.

The fire threat in much of Colorado has grown during an unusually dry and warm March. Several counties, including Jefferson, have implemented fire restrictions affecting campfires, fireworks and smoking in fire-prone areas.

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Associated Press writers Rema Rahman, Steven K. Paulson and Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed to this report.

The Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite is the first of six in a $14 billion system designed to give the military more communications capacity than its current Milstar system as well as resist signals jamming.

Losing AEHF-1 would have been a costly and embarrassing blow. It would have delayed the satellite system along with all the related technology that will use it, and it would have prolonged the military’s dependence on the aging Milstar system, first launched in 1994. It also would have raised more questions in Congress about the military and aerospace industry’s ability to manage multibillion-dollar projects.

The program was $250 million over budget and two years behind schedule when the first satellite, AEHF-1, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in August 2010. As planned, an Atlas V rocket carried AEHF-1 to an elliptical “parking orbit” ranging from 140 miles to 31,000 miles from Earth.

Trouble came days later when ground controllers twice directed AEHF-1 to fire its main engine to begin moving into a circular orbit more than 22,000 miles above the Earth. Both times the satellite shut the engine down when it detected that it wasn’t working — a safety feature.

AEHF-1 was useless in the parking orbit where it was stranded. Worse, there was a danger the fuel backed up in the lines might ignite and explode, the Air Force said.

The Air Force acknowledged a problem in the propulsion system shortly after the 2010 launch but didn’t publicly discuss the danger the satellite was in until this year.

“My initial reaction was we had lost the mission,” said Dave Madden, the civilian director of the Military Satellite Communications System Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

Madden quickly assembled teams of “really big brains” from the Air Force and the aerospace industry — including satellite builder Lockheed Martin — to determine what went wrong. His experts said another attempt to fire the engine might trigger an explosion.

“Their findings probably saved the satellite,” Madden said.

They devised a rescue plan using the satellite’s two other propulsion systems. Both are weaker than the main engine and were designed to make course corrections, not push the satellite across 21,000 miles of space.

Over the next 14 months, ground crews fired the two propulsion systems hundreds of times. Each time, they had to check with Air Force teams that monitor satellite orbits to make sure AEHF-1 wasn’t headed for a collision with a piece of space junk. They had to move the satellite out of the way of debris three or four times.

One of the backup propulsion systems required electricity, so the satellite’s solar panels had to be extended earlier than planned. That put them at risk of damage as the satellite passed through radiation belts around the Earth. They survived without damage.

The satellite reached orbit in October, more than a year late, and successfully completed testing on Feb. 29, Lockheed Martin said. No other problems have cropped up, and the Air Force said it has enough fuel to complete its expected 14-year life.

Madden’s experts identified the likely culprit for the engine malfunction as a blocked fuel line. A Government Accountability Office report issued last year said the blockage might have been a piece of cloth left there during manufacturing. The Air Force said it could have been put there in the first place to keep out impurities when the line was disconnected for a repair.

Defense analyst Marco Caceres, who tracks rocket and satellite failures as part of his work for the Teal group, an aerospace and defense analysis firm, said he had never heard of such a mistake.

“If I had to find the top 10 strange ones, that one would make my list,” said Caceres.

Lockheed Martin, which is expected to build all six AEHF satellites, said the probable cause was a foreign object that got into the system during manufacture. The Air Force reduced Lockheed Martin’s potential fees by $15 million because of the mistake. Lockheed Martin’s current contract for AEHF is valued at $7.8 billion.

The Air Force said the next two AEHF satellites have been inspected and additional checks have been added to the manufacturing process for the remaining versions. Lockheed Martin and the Air Force say the next satellite is scheduled for launch on April 27.

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