By Marilyn Robinson
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
Some residents are questioning a volunteer fire department’s response to a blaze earlier this month that destroyed a 4,000-square-foot home in the Jefferson County foothills southwest of Denver.
It took the first volunteer firefighters from the Inter-Canyon Fire Department 18 minutes to respond to the scene. By then, the house was too far gone to be saved.
Five residents attended the department’s board meeting Thursday night to voice concerns.
In response, Dan Hatlestad, a fire department spokesman, noted that finding the Dec. 8 blaze was difficult.
“Unfortunately, that’s not uncommon - because of the geography and topography, because of rock formations and limited access to the area we serve,” Hatlestad said. “At times it can be very difficult in our area to locate a fire.”
The first of a series of phone calls from residents who saw smoke came in at 11:12 a.m. on the day of the fire.
Most of the calls came from the area of C-470 and South Kipling Street, and it was difficult initially to determine whose district the fire was in, said Cindy Matthews, spokeswoman for the West Metro Fire Department.
About 40 firefighters, including 22 from Inter-Canyon and others from West Metro and the Lockheed-Martin plant, responded the blaze.
“Based upon the conditions, (the house) appears to have been unsaveable at the time of the initial fire call,” Hatlestad said.
A single-lane gravel road led to the A-frame house at 9202 Buffalo Drive, in a subdivision on the east edge of Deer Creek Canyon Park, and it took some time to set up firefighting operations, Hatlestad said.
The home was insured for $550,000 and its contents for $350,000.
Sheriff’s Deputy Fred Lang rescued the owners’ dog from the burning house before firefighters arrived. For that, said owner Ronald Gist, “We are forever grateful.”
Gist said he and his wife were running errands when the fire broke out. The cause is still under investigation.
Department’s 2005 statistics
Although the all-volunteer Inter-Canyon Fire Department has an average response time that is longer than most urban agencies staffed full time, an 18-minute delay is still unusual.
Here’s a look at the agency’s statistics from 2005:
- Total calls: 341
- Average response time from the time Jefferson County dispatch alerted crews to the time the first unit arrived: 9 minutes 16 seconds
- Type of calls, by percentage:
- Medical: 65.99%
- Service (strange odors, animal rescue, etc.): 17.57%
- Fire (vehicle, house, wildland, etc.): 7.19%
- Hazardous condition (gas leaks, power lines, etc.): 5.46%
- False alarms: 3.79%
Source: Inter-Canyon Fire Department