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November 13, 2001 By Jim Mimiaga Local fire crews battled a huge hay-bale fire over the weekend that investigators say was started by a discarded cigarette. More than 9,000 bales and a barn were destroyed by the fire, which occurred on a farm located at county roads 26 and T. There were no reported injuries. The Dolores, Cortez and Lewis fire departments battled the blaze for 24 hours, dousing it with water hauled in, and breaking it up with heavy equipment. The fire, which began Friday around 10:30 p.m., quickly spread, threatening nearby buildings. It had engulfed the towering haystack in heavy smoke and shooting flames when firefighters arrived. "It was extremely smoky and the wind was blowing, so that made the effort pretty tough," said Lloyd Johnson, a captain with the Dolores Fire Department. "We broke it up with loaders and bulldozers to protect nearby structures, and put at least 100,000 gallons of water on it." The way the hay happened to be stacked — with an access corridor down the middle — allowed the fire to quickly spread to its center. The fire was controlled by midnight Saturday, but was still smoldering on Monday morning. Fire and sheriff’s investigators believe the blaze started after a woman walking by flipped a lighted cigarette onto the haystack, located on Gary Tibbit’s property. Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez said he believed charges would be filed against her for some type of negligence. According to Chavez, a woman, her daughter and two passengers were driving in the area when the driver, who was intoxicated, swerved to miss a deer, and the vehicle careened into a ditch. After that, the four got out of the vehicle and went separate ways searching for help, Chavez said. One of the unnamed passengers, a woman, admitted flipping a cigarette into the haystack. Shortly after, she looked back, saw the fire and ran to call 911, according to Chavez. The driver, Jana Rogers, 36 of Mancos, was charged with DUI, DUI per se, prohibited use of a weapon, and criminally negligent child abuse, Chavez said. Damage and property loss has not been estimated, but is expected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. One bale of hay sells for between $2 and $5 each. The local Red Cross also assisted, providing food and coffee for the 25 or so firefighters. |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
All rights reserved. |
