Winds whip Carbondale fire
300-acre blaze threatens homes
By John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 16, 2008
CARBONDALE, Colorado — All Arthur Piubeni could do at the junction of Catherine Store Road and Main Street in Carbondale, was watch as smoke billowed from the trees in the distance to the east. He clutched his cell phone in one hand and chewed on his lip as he stared at the County Road 100 Fire, which burned 300 acres near his home at The Ranch at Roaring Fork.
He was nervous.
“We could be in trouble,” Piubeni said.
High winds fueled the wildfire and caused several homes to be threatened Tuesday afternoon. Piubeni stood alongside several area residents, watching the smoke build in front of them. Piubeni wondered if his wife and kids were safe, and if his home was still standing.
“My wife called me at noon and said there was smoke,” Piubeni said. “She didn’t know where it was coming from, but she said that she had to evacuate.”
By 8 p.m. the fire was reported as 25 percent contained, according to Tamra Blackard of the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
However, Blackard could give no estimation on how long crews would be out fighting the fire but they remained on scene throughout the night.
“We don’t have a time frame right now,” Blackard said. “We are at 25 percent contained, but we are still fighting 50 mile-an-hour winds.”
Highway 82 was closed for about four hours during the afternoon, until one lane in each direction was reopened by 7:30 p.m.
Blackard said that several county and access roads between Carbondale and El Jebel, including County Road 100 and County Road 103, remained closed at 9 p.m. As well, homes and businesses within a three-mile radius of the Catherine Store in Carbondale were under a mandatory evacuation order due to the fire. The evacuation was lifted for some residents around 10 p.m.
The fire originated about one mile east of Carbondale, on private property near County Road 100 and Highway 82, shortly after noon. The cause of the fire has not been determined and remains under investigation.
Four structures, at least two of which were homes, were damaged by fire but were not destroyed. One person received non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, but no information on his condition was available.
Electric, telephone and gas service was not working in some areas surrounding the fire shortly after 8 p.m.
Evacuees were advised to go to Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, where the Red Cross set up a shelter for those displaced.
Fire departments from Carbondale, Basalt, Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Gypsum, Eagle, Grand Junction and Burning Mountains, along with several other agencies including Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and other area sheriff’s departments, responded to the scene.
The Upper Colorado River Fire Management Unit — a federal interagency group made up of the BLM, the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and the National Park Service — sent four engines, and also requested 40 firefighters to assist in fighting the fire, said David Boyd, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management.
Phillip Yates contributed to this story.
Contact John Gardner: 384-9114
jgardner@postindependent.com
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080416/VALLEYNEWS/32303110
