Deadly Ordway fire 100% contained; residents return home to 'mess'

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 07:58 p.m., April 16, 2008
Updated 07:58 p.m., April 16, 2008

Photo by Ken Papaleo

Rusty Markus Jr. helps carry out belongings of his grandmother's from her destroyed home in Ordway.

Photo by Ken Papaleo

Jorene Markus looks at her home destroyed by wildfire in Ordway. Markus had lived in the house for more than 35 years.

Photo by CBS4 News

Authorities inspect the scene of a firetruck crash that killed two volunteer firefighters near Ordway.

Photo by CBS4 News

CBS4 News

A wildfire engulfs a home near Ordway, where 1,100 were evacuated and two died. In addition, a pilot died in another blaze.

Paul Conrad / Special To The Rocky

Flames explode behind a home Tuesday afternoon in Ranch at Roaring Fork along Colorado 82 in Carbondale. Heavy winds caused a ditch fire to go out of control.

Jerilee Bennett / The Gazette

Greg Dickey, far right, and friends and family watch as a wildfire rages on the land surrounding his Juniper Valley Ranch restaurant along Colorado 115 at Fort Carson last week.

The Crowley County coroner said today she was "incredibily relieved" to learn that no one else died at the same site where two firefighters were killed as they headed to fight a fast-moving blaze.

Fire had destroyed the underside of a bridge that covered a drainage ditch about a mile from Ordway, coroner Karen Tomky said today. But drivers who tried to cross it Tuesday were unaware of the damage because of thick, black smoke.

The driver of a pickup who tried to cross the bridge Tuesday evening went into the ditch, she said. He was able to get out and walk away.

The Olney Springs Volunteer Fire Department truck then crashed, crushing Chief Terry DeVore and firefighter John Schwartz, she said. They died instantly.

At some point, a van also ended up in the ditch. It was so badly scorched authorities had trouble determining whether anyone was inside.

"I was so sure someone was in there," Tomky said.

But by mid-Tuesday afternoon a couple who had gone to a shelter in Sugar City reported to authorities that their van had gone down in the same location as the fire truck.

A pilot working on a separate inferno in El Paso County also was killed Tuesday as fears of a high-risk fire day became a tragic reality.

On Tuesday, much of the state was under a National Weather Service red flag warning, signifying high fire danger.

Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency, freeing up state resources. He also visited Crowley County today, where the fire was declared 100 percent contained Wednesday night.

The Colorado Department of Transportation began repairing the bridge as Ordway's 1,100 residents were let back into the town they were forced to evacuate the day before.

Tomky, who also is a nurse practitioner, was working in her medical clinic at the time.

"There was a lot of dirt blowing, it was smoky and the fire was moving very fast. People just grabbed their kids and ran," she said.

At the time she feared the fire would devour Main Street, but most of the city was spared.

The blaze charred 8,900 acres in Crowley County and damaged or destroyed 24 structures, from barns to houses, fire spokesman Chris Sorensen said.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, raced from the state Capitol in Denver to Ordway on Tuesday night. The scene he found was "eerie."

"There was a long row of cottonwood trees parallel to each. They were glowing with embers so you saw this long line of glowing trees," he said.

Today he met with residents who described "miracles" — fires that destroyed their barns but left their homes standing.

"You can see where farmers plowed to try to stop the flames," Gardner said.

He also talked to those who weren't as lucky, and lost homes and pets.

At one point, firefighters from 35 agencies battled the blaze.

DeVore, 30, and Schwartz, 38, from the Olney Springs department, were among those who joined the effort. DeVore's father, volunteer firefighter Bruce DeVore, was behind his son in another firetruck.

"The smoke was so bad on the highway they couldn't see," said Deb DeVore, Terry DeVore's mother.

"They could see his taillights and they were following him. All of a sudden the taillights disappeared and they slowed down. The road was no longer there."

Both of the dead firefighters worked for the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility.

"Not only did these two fine men serve the public by upholding safety and security in their daily jobs, but they further served their communities by volunteering," said Ari Zavaras, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

"That they paid the ultimate price is a tragedy."

The pilot was identified as Gert Marais, 42, of Fort Benton, Mont., Fort Carson spokesman Maj. Sean Ryan said today. Marais worked for Aero Applicators, a Sterling company that supplies aerial firefighting services, Ryan said.

His single-engine, turboprop crop-duster tanker crashed about 6:20 Tuesday evening along Colorado 115 near Fort Carson, said Michael Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's northwest region.

Marais was the only person on board, Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center officials said.

According to Colorado secretary of state records, the company is owned by Darrel Mertens of Sterling.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the plane was working under a contract with the state forest service. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating, Maketa said.

"He dumped his slurry and they say after that it looked like it pulled up and then it just nosedived into the ground," Maketa said.

Firefighters are hoping that the 40 percent chance of thunderstorms this afternoon will help with the fires.

"We will certainly take any cooperation the weather will provide," Sorensen said.

The National Weather Service says Ordway has a chance of showers today.

Rain is expected again overnight, then snow likely after 4 a.m. Thursday, with a total chance of precipitation at 70 percent.

The 14-square-mile fire has burned mostly short-grass prairie, plus some crop lands both east and west of Ordway.

The fire at Fort Carson forced some evacuations late Tuesday and a shelter was set up at a special events center on base, Capt. Gregory Dorman said.

In Crowley County, Pete and Nancy Moore said they were given the directive to evacuate Ordway, and they briefly stayed in Sugar City until the blaze began approaching that town. They evacuated again to Rocky Ford before returning to Ordway about 7 p.m.

"The place is a mess," said Pete Moore, whose wife is a former mayor of Ordway. "There were at least three private dwellings that we saw that were gone. We have seen several structures that have been destroyed, and there's no electricity in the city."

Residents were told to evacuate to Sugar City or Crowley, where officials set up a shelter. An unknown number of residents were staying in a nursing care facility in a section of Ordway not threatened by the fire, Sorensen said.

Another wildfire near Carbondale, between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, blackened about 1,000 acres, damaged two homes and injured one resident. The nature of the injury wasn't known.

"We won't have this thing knocked down until (Wednesday)," said William Kight, spokesman for the Upper Colorado River Fire Management Team.

More than 100 firefighters worked to put out the 1,000-acre fire, which spread quickly because of high winds between Carbondale and El Jebel. The fire, about 25 percent contained by midday, forced the evacuation of at least 150 homes.

It also forced the closing of Colorado 82, the main route between Aspen and Glenwood Springs, for about five hours.

A snowy winter has lessened the likelihood of wildfires along the Continental Divide and farther west, according to an early spring forecast by the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center.

However, that March 25 forecast said windy conditions combined with plenty of dry grassland have created the potential for fires like the one that hit Ordway on Tuesday.

"These conditions are expected to continue into early April or longer if green-up is curtailed by increasing dryness and drought," the report stated. "Fire potential will be significant ahead of cold fronts."

The Gazette and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

• April 16, 2008

  6:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  vudumom writes:

  How Horrible! My heart goes out to the families of the Firefighters and the pilot of the plane. What a tragedy.

• April 16, 2008

  9:31 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  JustSayin writes:

  I'd sure like to hear more about what's going to happen to the jerk who started the ditch fire near Carbondale when high winds were forecast! Where the hell is common sense these days?

• April 16, 2008

  4:55 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  This is a shame that two people died because some idiot did not follow the fire code on burning garbage.I lived in a area where there was a fire that destroyed 350 homes and covered approximately 20 miles.This fire was a arson fire,all I could do was watch from 2 miles away as it burned down the neighborhood.This guy was never caught and is still roaming around on the loose.The worst part was the homeowner who stayed with the family home and died in the fire.So people when you are told to get out due to fire do it don't stay.The things in a home is not worth losing your life.

• April 16, 2008

  9:34 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  knknonhvnsdoor writes:

  its a horrible thing that has happened to such a tight knit community. most of these people have known each other for most of their lives, grown up together, and their kids the same way. the person that started this didn't do it on purpose. true it wasn't the brightest thing to do, but i'm sure if he had it all to do over, he would change everything. give him a little slack, you never know, you might need his help!!