News
Elbert 6-27-13
Elbert County
Elbert County, Colorado • Volume 118, Issue 22
June 27, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourelbertcountynews.com And the winners are ... Look inside to find out who made Colorado Community Media’s list.
Man enters guilty plea in wildfire Staff report
Elbert County Emergency Manager Cory Stark is starting a new career with the Colorado Office of Emergency Management. Working at the division level, Stark will serve as the north central regional field manager, helping 10 counties — including Elbert — build and manage better emergency management programs. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
Search on for new emergency manager State picks Stark to serve as regional field manager By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com Just as wildfire season heats up, Elbert County will lose its emergency manager to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management. Cory Stark, the tall, soft-spoken “master of disaster” who helped forge multi-jurisdictional partnerships and scrape together grant money for critical upgrades to the county’s emergency dispatch system, began his new position June 24 as the state’s
new north central regional field manager. “This really is a dream job for me,” Stark said from his office in Kiowa. “I first heard about the position back in 2009, but of course, it wasn’t open then. So when it was re-advertised at the beginning of the year, I applied and said, `If this job really is for me, then the doors will open.’” And open they did. “We are very excited to have Cory in our office as well as our division,” said Colorado Director of Emergency Management Dave Hard. “Cory has demonstrated excellence in building relationships, teams and good systems out in Elbert County and we look forward to him applying those skills here in the North Central Region.”
In his new role, Stark will assist 10 counties, including Elbert, helping local governments and community agencies improve emergency management plans and programs. Stark’s position has been advertised on the county website, offering an annual salary of up to $55,000. Applications for the position will be accepted until 5 p.m. on July 1. Elbert County District 2 Commissioner Kurt Schlegel said the county will not appoint an interim emergency manager to serve until the position can be permanently filled. “We simply don’t have the staff to do Search continues on Page 11
A former volunteer firefighter has pleaded guilty to intentionally setting a wildfire, a Class 3 felony, according to an Elbert County Sheriff’s Office news release. Alex Averett, of Elbert, is scheduled to face sentencing Sept. 16. Earlier this year, authorities said Averett admitted to starting the June 2012 County Road 102 Fire. The blaze scorched 600 acres and forced the evacuation of 100 residents from the town of Elbert. More than 100 fire and law enforcement Averett personnel from multiple agencies responded to the fire at a time when resources were strained due to the Waldo Canyon and Hyde Park fires. At the time, Averett was a 19-year-old volunteer with the Elbert Fire Protection District. “I speak for all officers and volunteers of the Elbert Fire Department, as well as members of the Elbert community, in stating we were shocked and saddened to learn the alleged arsonist was one of our own,” Fire Chief John Gresham said in February. Averett also pleaded guilty June 17 to criminal mischief, a Class 1 misdemeanor. He remains in jail on a $50,000 bond.
In tornado country, what goes around comes around DIA twister is reminder of Colorado weather patterns By Kevin Vaughan and Burt Hubbard I-News Network
The tornado sighting that set off alarms and frightened passengers at Denver International Airport on June 18 was a startling reminder that Colorado is indeed twister country. Since 1950, only six other states have experienced more tornadoes than the 1,948 documented here, an I-News examination of federal weather data found. And two of the state’s fastest-growing counties — Weld and Adams, which surrounds DIA — had the most tornadoes during that 63-year span. Combined, they accounted for 410 tornadoes, more than one of every five. In addition, the Weld County town of Windsor experienced the most de-
structive twister in state history. And then there’s the airport sitting on the high plains 25 miles from downtown Denver. On an average day, DIA sees about 145,000 passengers, and at any given time as many as 20,000 people may be in the terminal and concourses. Officials there are keenly aware that the airport could become a tornado bull’s-eye at any given time. Two separate tabletop exercises conducted earlier this year for just such an eventuality became showtime reality June 18. “We followed protocol and everything went very smoothly,” Laura Coale, director of media relations at DIA, said June 19. There were no reported injuries, damage or calls for paramedics, she said. The tornado was preliminarily rated an EF1 by the National Weather Service, and touched down between two runways on the airport’s east side.
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A tornado ripped through parts of Elbert and El Paso counties in June 2012, leaving behind areas of devastation, like this property in Ramah. No deaths were reported. File photo
DIA has safe spaces
Even in practice scenarios that assumed backed-up traffic at DIA with larger passenger loads, the airport has a safe place for everyone. In addition to the bathrooms and stairwells, the airport can evacuate people to the underground baggage tunnels if necessary, officials have said. On May 8, 1975 — long before DIA was even conceived — an F3 tornado touched down near 56th Avenue and Picadilly Road and tracked to the northeast. It was on the ground for four miles and was a quartermile wide. Back then, the area was farmland, and
the twister did no damage. But if that historic tornado had been the one to hit June 18, it could have been a different story. That tornado’s track went directly across present-day Pena Boulevard, across a runway and into the west-side parking lot next to the main terminal. While it’s true that tornadoes are much more common in Colorado than one might realize, it’s equally true that they are not likely to pack the power of those that hit farther east — such as the destructive and deadly twisters that ravaged parts of Oklahoma in May. Tornado continues on Page 10