The Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department was so busy responding to blazes and emergencies Tuesday morning that when homes in The Meadows neighborhood went up in flames, the fire chief began to battle them — with a garden hose.
All of Castle Rock’s firetrucks had been dispatched elsewhere.
A busy morning of wind-stoked fires across Douglas County and elsewhere tested the limits of fire resources around the state, with departments throughout Colorado calling for backup from neighboring departments and state and federal resources.
Castle Rock Fire Chief Art Morales was among the first to reach the burning homes on North Foxtail Drive after 10 a.m. Meantime, fire crews, initially busy at other blazes, raced their trucks to the scene.
“Command officers were in a staff meeting with the police department,” Morales said. “We got here first. We came to this fire because no one was left — there weren’t any firefighters left.”
Command officers began evacuating surrounding homes and trying to keep the flames from spreading. Morales and his team of chiefs used garden hoses to keep embers at bay. The firetrucks arrived 15 minutes later.
By the time firefighters — around 30, with eight trucks — got the fire under control, two homes had been destroyed, and five other houses sustained minor or moderate damage. No injuries were reported, although two dogs are unaccounted for.
Two houses were left cavernous, second stories having caved in. Fences in the back were knocked down, revealing fire damage on the homes behind.
People gathered outside their houses to watch firefighters put out the last of the flames and look for hot spots. Neighbors met for the first time, swapping their stories.
When the fire started, neighbors began yelling, running along lawns and knocking on windows to make sure everyone was out. People stood in their driveways watching in shock before the firetrucks arrived.
Zoey Vodicka, 16, pulled up to her house just as the fire started at a residence across the street.
“When all of it was happening, I didn’t know what to do,” Vodicka said. “I was kind of in shock.”
Vodicka said the family who lived at the house where the fire started was standing in her driveway in shock as people ran around shouting, trying to get neighbors out of their homes.
Exterior walls were eaten away, giving a clear look inside the homes. At 1:30 p.m., smaller flames were still burning inside walls.
High winds caused the fire, which originated in a garage, to spread, Morales said. The exact cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Extreme winds and dry conditions throughout the Front Range had already stoked a wildfire at Interstate 25 and Tomah Road. The blaze escalated from a one-alarm fire to a three-alarm fire just after 9 a.m.
About 25 firetrucks from Larkspur, Franktown, South Metro Fire Rescue and other agencies were dispatched to that fire, Morales said.
Castle Rock crews were still trying to keep a firetruck at the ready, but a nearby gas leak took that vehicle out of commission.
It was time to call in other resources.
“There isn’t a fire department on the planet that can do it all by themselves,” Morales said.
Fire crews were busy all day throughout the state, tending to fast-moving, wind-sparked blazes in Aurora and Alamosa, and Baca, El Paso, and Pueblo counties. High winds blasted the state, tipping tractor-trailers tipping, uprooting trees, hurling furniture and whipping up dust. The National Weather Service urged motorists to reconsider travel as gusts of 80 miles per hour kicked in.
Cooperation among communities is vital during such chaotic times, officials said.
“Colorado is a home-rule state, so response to all of these fires will start locally, and then once those resources are exhausted, it moves up the chain,” said Caley Fisher, spokeswoman for the state Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
Who controls the fire response can depend on where it starts. On federal land, federal agencies such as the Colorado State Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management can handle the situation.
The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday took command of a third Douglas County fire near Rampart Range Road and Colorado 67 — but not before crews from Golden, Fairmount, South Metro and West Metro arrived to battle it.
When fires start on local, private land, the presiding sheriff typically coordinates.
The state, such as Fisher’s agency, acts in a supporting role and can send in aircraft or fire engines.
West Metro Fire District on Tuesday helped tackle fires in Douglas County when resources became depleted.
“We’re always in a state of readiness,” said West Metro Fire District spokesman Steve Aseltine. “We’ve agreed to help each other. We’re showing results of how we’ve prepared for years. This cooperation is the benefit of that.”
