Evergreen house destroyed in a fire

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A house in the 3800 block of Spring Valley Trail was destroyed in a re early Feb. 7. No one was home at the time.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue responded to a re call at about 12:45 a.m. to the home o Stagecoach Boulevard, and the home was fully involved in ames when re ghters arrived, according to Einar Jensen, an EFR spokesman.

Indian Hills and Elk Creek re departments assisted in ghting the re. ey were tasked primarily with hauling water to the scene since there were no re hydrants nearby, Jensen said.

Neighbors were noti ed through Lookout Alert about the re, so they would know EFR was at the scene, Jensen said.

Fire o cials were told the property had recently been purchased, and e home, which was remote, was in a gated community on a one-lane road, and snow and ice made getting to the house more di cult, Jensen said. e cause of the re is under investigation. is is the third house re in the Evergreen area in a week. e Je co coroner’s o ce has not released the cause of death of the woman who died in the Silver Spruce Lane re.

Jensen didn’t know whether the new owners had moved anything into the home.

Causes have been determined for the rst two res, both on Jan. 31 by the EFR re investigator. e rst re on Silver Spruce Lane that morning was accidental, starting near a wood-burning replace. e second that evening on Aspen Way was caused by improperly stored replace ashes.

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

New communication tower site e Inter-Canyon Fire Department likely has found a new home for its communications tower. is spot was not in consideration because of other available locations, he said. e re board still needs to vote on where the communication tower will be placed and the costs involved.

District o cials have found a new site, so the district won’t build the tower in Hilldale Pines, Chief Skip Shirlaw said at the Feb. 8 re board meeting. He promised Hilldale Pines residents who attended the meeting that the department heard their concerns about a potential tower in their neighborhood, which is why this site is at the top of the list.

Shirlaw declined to say where the site was because the department was still negotiating a rental price with the owners, but he said it was a commercial tower site with only the property owner’s home nearby. He added that the department likely would erect a separate 40-foot tower at the location.

Neighbors of Inter-Canyon’s Station 5 in Hilldale Pines were concerned a proposed 80-foot tower at the station would cause health impacts of radio frequency exposure; re risk if lightning struck the tower; visual impacts since the tower would be nearly 40 feet above nearby trees; issues if the tower fell over because of strong winds; and decreasing home values.

“We had a good meeting with owners of the tower property last week,” Shirlaw said. “It was very favorable, and they are happy to have us there.”

Community paramedicine program starts e goal of the program is to help ful ll smaller medical needs such as checking blood pressure, giving

Inter-Canyon’s community paramedicine program has o cially started.

EKGs and taking blood samples so the person — usually a senior citizen — doesn’t need a doctor visit or an ambulance. Community paramedics look for clues and ask questions to make sure the senior is healthy.

Battalion Chief Dan Hatlestad said he expected the department to get requests from the community, doctors and hospitals to help residents in the district. To learn more, call Inter-Canyon at 303-697-4413.

Sign up for chipping starting Feb. 20 Elk Creek and Inter-Canyon re departments will open their chipping program registrations on Feb. 20 for those living in those re districts.

Last year, the chipping crews for the two departments worked at 480 address locations, and all of those people signed up on the rst day. is year, residents living in areas with community ambassadors will get the rst shot at signing up. If you aren’t sure if you have a community ambassador, check the Community Ambassador Page on the Wildland tab of either re district’s website to nd your planning unit and who represents you.

Fifteen of the 46 neighborhoods still need community ambassadors. If you are interested, contact Capt. John Mandl at Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District, jmandl@icfpd. net.

No new fire station for now Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District is holding o on building a new re station on U.S. 285 until it learns whether it will consolidate with Elk Creek and North Fork re departments.

Fire Chief Skip Shirlaw said if the departments move forward with consolidation and voters approve it in November, decisions on the scope and size of the station should be decided by the new large department. If consolidation doesn’t take place, Inter-Canyon will continue with its original plan to build a new station where its current Station 3 is located at a cost of about $5 million.

Evergreen area students show their knowledge at annual bee

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Despite indications to the contrary, the ability to spell is alive and well in the foothills.

Sixteen students from Wilmot and e Bergens elementary schools and Evergreen Middle School took to the Bergen Valley stage on Feb. 2 to take on the challenge in the annual