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September 3, 2020
ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Northglenn-ThorntonSentinel.com
VOLUME 57 | ISSUE 4
Thornton’s man on the ground
CATERING TO SENIORS
Fire Department loans lieutenant to fight wildland fires BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
roughly 6,000 gallons on average to more than 24,000 gallons. She just wanted to know why. “I’m on a fixed income,” she said. “I was able to pay it this month, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue if it stays like this.” The protest was organized earlier in day via email and social media and drew between 40 and 50 cars, some with families and others with retired couples. It was meant to coincide with the Westminster City Council’s regular meeting, which was hosted on the Zoom platform and on the city’s Youtube page at 7 p.m.
It’s not that fighting a wildland fire is more difficult than fighting a fire anywhere else, according to Thornton Lt. Perry Otero. But it is different. “The way I described it to my battalion chief is in comparison to a structure fire,” Otero said. “For structure fires, you have all these trucks and all this equipment and you’re there for a couple of hours, maybe more. Otero This is like being at structure fire with all those resources and managing all of them for 16 hours straight, every day, day after day.” Otero returned to Thornton Aug. 21 after a 14-day deployment to the Pine Gulch Fire about 18 miles north of Grand Junction. He was able to settle in for a few days, before deploying again Aug. 27 — this time with another Thornton firefighter to the Cameron Peak fire in the mountains west of Greeley in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. The Thornton lieutenant is part of a team of 15 in the department with special training in fighting wildland fires. Currently, four Thornton firefighters have been loaned out to help with blazes around the state, according to Public Information Officer Sabrina Iacovetta. Two other Thornton firefighters are battling the blaze at the Williams Fork Fire seven miles Southwest of Fraser.
SEE WATER, P4
SEE OTERO, P2
Conrado Vasquez, right, and Mayela Peregrino of Thornton’s Bluebird Cafe, prepare lunches for Adams County Meals on Wheels August 27. The deal with Meals on Wheels is helping to sustain the cafe and help feed residents. See story on page 5. PHOTO BY STEFAN BRODSKY
Residents decry Westminster water rates City says high heat, dry skies behind bigger bills BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Westminster resident Nancy Trujillo simply doesn’t understand where all the water the city says she’s been using went. “I’ve lived here for 25 years,” Trujillo said Aug. 24 from the front seat of her car. “I have yard, but it hasn’t changed. Nothing has changed, except my water bill.” Trujillo was among a group of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGE 8 | SPORTS: 10
residents that parked their cars in Westminster City Hall’s parking lot Aug. 24, flashing their headlights and posting protest signs on their windshields with one simple message: They are fed up with Westminster’s water rates. When Trujillo, who lives alone in a single-family house with a yard, got her July water bill from the City of Westminster the first thing she noticed was that she was being charged: $230, compared to her usual $60 or so. The next thing she noted was the chart on her bill showing how much water she had used in July 2020 compared to the previous 18 months. Her use had ballooned in July, going from
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