July 16, 2020
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 34
Chatridge 2 fire is seen as a close call Douglas County is still reviewing and learning from the event BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
From left: Douglas County commissioners Roger Partridge, Lora Thomas and Abe Laydon.
COURTESY PHOTO VIA COLORADO SUN
Douglas County wants divorce from health agency Health chief calls potential move ‘extraordinarily disruptive’ BY NICK PUCKETT AND JESSICA GIBBS COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Douglas County’s top elected officials say they want to end the county’s 54-year affiliation with the
Tri-County Health Department after the agency’s board issued an order requiring the wearing of masks in public. Tri-County’s executive director, Dr. John Douglas, later told Colorado Community Media that the proposed withdrawal is “extraordinarily disruptive to our staff and planning in the middle of a pandemic.” He said that “to whatever extent we are working with the transition, we’re not working with schools to
get reopened, not working with statisticians, not working with testing teams.” The Douglas County move is the latest chapter in its sometimesfraught relationship with the health agency, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, with some voices in the county objecting to some of Tri-County’s more stringent safety orders. SEE COUNTY, P2
Businesses told to refuse customers without masks Tri-County will attempt to seek voluntary compliance BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
County Health Department Board of Health, the agency that oversees Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties. Counties and municipalities can opt out of the order by July 23, and Douglas County’s elected leaders announced plans on July 9 to do so.
The public health agency for Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties will require masks in public indoor spaces, and outdoors where people can’t remain 6 feet away from others, beginning July 24, but the order includes a long list of exceptions. It also requires businesses to refuse customers who aren’t wearing masks, and those who don’t comply could have their business licenses suspended or revoked. The order in response to COVID-19 was approved July 8 by the Tri-
Where order applies Under the order, people must wear a face covering if they are: • Outdoors and unable to maintain a distance of 6 feet from those who are not members of their household. • In any indoor location where members of the public are generally allowed. • Waiting for, riding on, driving or operating public transportation or while in a taxi, private car service or ride-sharing vehicle. • Obtaining health care services in
MORE ON MASKS More coverage of the debate over wearing masks on Pages 6, 10 and 11. settings such as a hospital, pharmacy, medical clinic, laboratory, physician or dental office, veterinary clinic, or blood bank. It also applies when people are working — whether at a workplace or off-site — in the following contexts: • Interacting with any member of the public. • Working in a space visited by members of the public. • Working in a space where food is prepared or packaged for sale or distribution. • Working in or walking through SEE BUSINESSES, P10
Douglas County’s Emergency Management Center is reviewing the recent Chatridge 2 blaze near Highlands Ranch after the quick-spreading flames caused one of the biggest local wildfires in recent years. The fire, which started in an unincorporated area of Douglas County south of Highlands Ranch, was first called in at about 9:50 a.m. June 29. Early, for a brush fire. Within 20 minutes, firefighters reported it had spread from one acre to 10, EMC director Tim Johnson said. “It was a very hot, windy, dry day,” Johnson said. Before long, the flames had spread even more and became a threat to homes in the BackCountry community in southern Highlands Ranch. At about 11 a.m. residents were ordered to evacuate as smoke closed in on the neighborhood. “It was really inconvenient; it was really scary,” resident Ed Schroback said. “The fire was right by where our house is.” At final count, the fire was determined to have spread to 500 acres, Johnson said. “A 500 acre fire is a large fire,” he said. “We typically don’t see fires that large.” The fire, later determined to be started by an electric utility pole malfunction, also caused power outages in the BackCountry community. SEE FIRE, P24
POOLS REOPEN AMID PANDEMIC
But COVID-19 concerns limit pool capacities and have delayed some improvement projects P14