Blame It On Fireworks: Colorado Firefighters Spent Weekend Battling Numerous Blazes
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - As Coloradans tried to end the 4th of July with a bang, firefighters from across Colorado's Front Range were battling fires in fields and homes. South Metro firefighters responded to multiple grass fires while Poudre Fire Authority in Fort Collins responded to a wildland fire and a house fire.
Poudre Fire Battalion Chief Tyson Barela told CBS4's Dillon Thomas firefighters took nearly three hours to completely extinguish a fire near Interstate 25.
"We found a roman candle near the seed of the fire," Barela said. "Unfortunately it was really windy, so that thing started going fairly quick."
Nearly two acres were charred as a result.
As a thick haze filled the Denver metro area, from downtown Denver to Erie Parkway, firefighters in Larimer County also responded to a house fire caused by fireworks.
A family of five had placed used fireworks in a bucket and left them by their garage.
"They were later alerted by a smoke detector in the house, and found the side of their house was on fire," Barela said.
The fire was caused by old fireworks overheating and melting through a bucket, eventually catching the nearby wall on fire.
"(The fireworks) continued to build heat, melted the bucket and then caught the house on fire," Barela said. "The fire had burned through the side of the house and in to the garage. And, it started to extend to the second floor of the house."
For Collins Police said they received more than 1,000 fireworks complaints on the 4th of July, with nearly 900 of them coming from their online reporting system.
