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Fire takes trailer in Animas Valley

Despite firefighters’ best effort, mobile home burns

Durango Fire Protection District responded to a fire at 9 Raspberry Circle in the early Sunday morning, where a single-wide mobile home was engulfed in flames.

The call came at 2:03 a.m., and crews from three stations responded to Durango Regency Mobile Home Community. But firefighters were unable to save the trailer. A vehicle parked next to the trailer and a shed were also lost. The person who owned the trailer escaped unharmed with his dog.

DFPD Marshal Karola Hanks called the crew’s response time excellent.

“Engine 2’s response time and arrival was under five minutes, and they were coming from town,” she said. “We had a full contingent, and most of those folks didn’t get home until around 6:30 this morning. It was significant amount of work.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but DFPD Fire Inspector Steve Harris is interested in the deck area, where the homeowner described the fire originating.

“He awoke to the sound of a boom, and he saw a fire on the deck coming toward the kitchen windows,” Hanks said. “We are focusing of the area, where the was a charcoal grill, and we’ll go from there.”

With the beginning of the barbecue season, Hanks said she would advise outdoor chefs to place a fireproof mat under charcoal grills.

“With charcoal barbecues grill in particular on your deck, you should have one of the fire-resistant pads underneath them, so if you drop an ember or anything out of the bottom vent holes, they don’t end up on the deck or fall through the members of the deck and then start a fire underneath it.”

Hanks said the Red Cross has been notified to provide assistance to the homeowner.

“It’s a difficult position for him,” she said. “He’s lost everything he had.”

bmathis@durangoherald.com



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