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September 3, 2020
ADAMS & JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
WestminsterWindow.com
VOLUME 75 | ISSUE 45
Thornton’s man on the ground
CATERING TO SENIORS
Fire Department loans lieutenant to fight wildland fires BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
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.” SEE WATER, P4
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGE 8 | SPORTS: 10
A volunteer helps guide a resident to a space in Westminster City Hall’s parking lot for a protest against the city’s water rates Aug. 24. Due to COVID-19, protesters were asked to stay in their cars with their headlights on and emergency lights flashing. Protestors complained that the city’s July water bills are too expensive. PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR
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 OTERO, P2
LATE SURGE
Westy bats busy early but Wolves fall to Green Mountain P10