A group of kids using illegal fireworks on the 4th of July ignited a 9-acre blaze between two housing subdivisions near Grand Junction, leading to seven house evacuations, a fire spokesman said.

State Parks and Wildlife officials also have evacuated Connected Lakes park as Grand Junction firefighters battle a brush fire that broke out in a large ravine between the Redlands and Connected Lakes subdivisions Thursday afternoon.

“The houses were definitely in peril several times,” Grand Junction Fire Department spokesman Dirk Clingman said Thursday night. No houses were damaged or destroyed and no one was injured, he said.

Deputies from the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office have taken the juveniles who lit the fire with fireworks in custody, Clingman said.

Crews are still working to surround the blaze with fire lines. The fire is about 60 percent contained, Clingman said shortly before 7 p.m.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is using a helicopter to help extinguish the fire.

The fire department released a photograph of large plumes of smoke near the Redlands community.

Clingman said some people take red flag warnings for granted. Adding to the frustration of firemen still attacking the flames is the fact that not only were the kids using illegal fireworks but they were also in violation of a fire ban that goes until 8 p.m. Thursday, he said.

But he also credited several people who helped extinguish flames leading to the homes of their neighbors with water hoses.

“It was a beautiful thing to see,” Clingman said.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.