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Sole survivor recounts horror of fire in small Colorado town

By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 24, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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A neighbor who smelled smoke in the wee hours Friday ran outside and captured this photograph of the Saldanas' restaurant and home engulfed in flames. The fire claimed three family members in the small southeastern Colorado farming town of Springfield. A cause has yet to be determined. The fire destroyed the family's Hometown Burrito restaurant and attached home .

Photo by Gloria Jean / Special To The Rocky

A neighbor who smelled smoke in the wee hours Friday ran outside and captured this photograph of the Saldanas' restaurant and home engulfed in flames. The fire claimed three family members in the small southeastern Colorado farming town of Springfield. A cause has yet to be determined. The fire destroyed the family's Hometown Burrito restaurant and attached home .

Killed in the fire were, from left, Pamela Denise Saldana, 47; her son, Jazz Michael Saldana, 17; and husband, Rocky Michael Saldana, 56.

Photo by /Special to the Rocky

Killed in the fire were, from left, Pamela Denise Saldana, 47; her son, Jazz Michael Saldana, 17; and husband, Rocky Michael Saldana, 56.

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They put the school play on hold Friday night and, on Sunday, residents of the small town of Springfield came together to help the only survivor of a fire that stole Sharon Jones' family.

Jones, 71, survived when she fled the burning home early Friday morning, chased out by flames that engulfed the 11,000- square-foot former lumber company at 2 a.m. By dawn, it had been reduced to a pile of rubble and ash.

Killed in the blaze were Jones' daughter, Pamela Denise Saldana, 47; her son-in-law, Rocky Michael Saldana, 56, and her grandson, Jazz Michael Saldana, 17, a junior at the nearby high school.

"It really hit everybody so hard," said the Rev. Paul Traver of Springfield's Assembly of God Church, who has counseled students and firefighters in the aftermath. "People are still reeling."

Springfield, in the southeastern corner of Colorado, is a rural farming community of 1,500, about a three-hours drive from Pueblo.

Jones grew up there, left for many years and then came back to stay in 2000. Her daughter, drawn by the close-knit community, moved her family down from Pueblo three years ago.

"There were 22 in my graduating class, and we still get together, like 19 of us, after that many years," Jones said. "Pam told me, 'I want this for my son.' "

The Saldanas moved in with Jones and opened a takeout restaurant, Hometown Burritos, in the front of the wood building; the home was attached. More recently, they bought and re-opened Springfield's only movie theater.

"It was just a small one-screen that had been around for years and had been shut down," said Richard Hargrove, principal of Springfield's combined middle/senior high school of 170 students. "They worked on it for a couple of months, him and her and Jazz. Kids were all excited when it opened back up this summer.

"I can remember several times going down on Saturdays," Hargrove said. "Rocky would be there at the restaurant, and Pam and Jazz had already had to go over to the movie theater. They were just hard-working people."

Smelling smoke

Gloria Jean smelled smoke about 3 a.m. Friday, went outside to check and saw flames at the Saldanas' home.

"I saw a little bit of fire on the sidewalk but then, back in the apartment area, there was gobs of smoke coming out." She said she saw a firefighter bring out Jones, who was protesting.

"She said, 'Oh no, I've got to get my grandson,' " Jean said. "It was a miracle the grandmother got out alive."

The firefighters, all volunteers from Springfield, Walsh, Pritchett, Camp and Two Buttes, were "just devastated," she said.

"Ninety-percent of the fires the guys deal with out here have to do with grass fires," said Traver, who assisted with a firefighters' de- briefing Friday night.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is expected to release a cause this week. No foul play is suspected, said Chris Sorensen with the Baca County Division of Emergency Management.

'Everybody knew Jazz'

Jazz Saldana was born with a broken heart, his grandmother said.

"He spent the first seven months of his life in Children's Hospital with a lot of different heart operations. He had four open-heart surgeries," she said.

Hargrove said Jazz still missed school for trips to Denver. But he didn't let that faze him.

"Everybody knew Jazz," he said. "He was one of the kids. I don't think I ever heard the young man be down or a negative comment at all. He had a lot of reasons to, at that age if you've been through that many surgeries, but it didn't slow him down."

Every day, Rocky Saldana would park outside the school at 12:30 to pick Jazz up for lunch. Hargrove would watch and wave. Every day, Rocky would have him back by 1:05 p.m. "He would always have something good to say," the principal said. "He would just give you that smile."

Teachers are trying to find items relating to Jazz - art projects, pictures taken of the crazy outfits he wore during Homecoming Week - so Jones will have something of his.

A memorial service for the Saldana family is planned for 2 p.m. Tuesday in the school gym.

On Sunday night, five churches held a common service and designated an offering to help Jones.

"She lost everything," Traver said.

For now, she is staying at her brother's home in Springfield. Her mother lives there still, in a nursing home. Her daughter from Manzanola is with her.

'I couldn't save them'

What woke Jones early Friday wasn't smoke or heat but the crackling sound of burning wood. Her bedroom was downstairs; the Saldanas slept upstairs.

"I flipped on the light, and the hallway was totally smoke," she said. "I started screaming for Pam. I grabbed the phone . . . but my phone was dead already. I tried to go down the hallway, and I can't breathe, I can't see."

Jones went out and told a police officer, who tried to crawl on his belly down the hall. She went around to a different window, screaming for her daughter, "my Pammy."

"I couldn't save them, I couldn't get to them, they didn't make it," she said on Sunday, and she started to cry.

"The only consolation I have is they went together because they did everything together."

Comments

  • November 24, 2008

    8:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LadyBird112 writes:

    I cannot imagine what this poor woman has gone through and will continue to go through. Sending good thoughts your way, Sharon.

  • November 24, 2008

    10:16 a.m.

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    BigRich writes:

    What a tragedy. LadyBird112, you're right. She will, no doubt, be riddled with survivor's guilt. There was obviously nothing that she could have done to save her family. I am also sending good thoughts to Ms. Jones and the extended family.

  • November 24, 2008

    10:17 a.m.

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    vacoday writes:

    Sharon,
    I, and many of the Miami OK Friends church are praying for you. I am so sorry for your loss.

  • November 24, 2008

    10:38 a.m.

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    Sprngfldxj writes:

    Thank you all for your thoughts, for Sharon and the family!! Sharon is recovering and getting along as best possible. Please keep in your thoughts, the Firemen and EMS as well as the other Rescue workers. Because this has been something that has not been experienced in this communtiy in a very long time, if ever in the lives of those there that night. This is a very close community and when we lose someone especially so tragically, it hurts a lot.
    God Bless, Paul T

  • November 24, 2008

    11:35 a.m.

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    BigRich writes:

    Sprngfldxj -

    Sorry, I didn't mean to leave the rescue workers out of my previous post. This has to be very hard for them too. I'm sure they felt very helpless, but they did all that they could. My thoughts are also with those brave folks.

  • November 25, 2008

    12:03 p.m.

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    claimjumper123 writes:

    True this is a grate loss and a tragedy. As with a lot of stories about such events there are a lot of things overlooked.
    In this case there has been no mention of Pams father Jim Bechtle and wife Judy. Also her sister Stacy, or brother Steve. As well no mention of Rockie's additional Children. Leaving these people out should not hapen. I hope everyone will include them in their thoughts and prayers also. Their needs for support and spiritatul guidence are just as grate as Mrs. Jones. I hope these people will axcept my best wishes and prayers as they suffer through this loss and procede down lifes path where ever it takes them.