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<br />, I I .
<br />,,,'Sunday, July 14. 'd9,D-~~_.,___ / THE D. ~R POST '**5A
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<br />-~Firehouse, ambulance other casualties of floodwaters
<br />
<br />
<br />1.F g,REEK from Page lA
<br />
<br />~~Ilkeitused to.
<br />But nobody anticipated the power
<br />. :-'Ot Friday's flood.
<br />':...c;"It was just a big wall of water,"
<br />said Jefferson County sheriff's Depu-
<br />:->ilty Ed Shettler. "It was just like when
<br />4..-~Q were a kid making a dam, and
<br />......'the water got too big for It."
<br />.~'\u! No one could walk to the station ru.
<br />.',i.';:lns because emergency workers feared
<br />r.:,)tbe ground would act like quicksand.
<br />Half the handle of a lawnmower stuck
<br />..~l.o(Jat above the mud in front of the fire.
<br />rc";"hOuse, revealing the depth of the
<br />;:-r...churned silt and soggy earth.
<br />....."'':.~ Downstream, long strips of the
<br />-".,ftrehouse's front wall tangled with a
<br />{pleohone nole. and countless tree
<br />;i-" 4-00\'5 and 'piec'es of concrete road
<br />formed a partial dam in the creek
<br />,"-.where the Jefferson County 126
<br />...>bridge once stood. The firehouse's
<br />'":propane tank - with 700 gallons of
<br />-fuel stili in it - ended up even far-
<br />ther down the creek,
<br />:r "Nearby, a community center
<br />washed off its foundation and sat bat.
<br />'fered but in one piece next to its orig.
<br />loal spot on the banks like a scene
<br />'>lr'om the Wizard of Oz,
<br />'J:""':'Melvln was eating a iate dinner in
<br />hi'!. hnn~p ::Ihov~ the creek when the
<br />-\~.in"and - lightning began late Friday
<br />-:-might. Melvin's family'has been com-
<br />ing to the Buffalo Creek area since
<br />1869, so he's not only seen some good
<br />st.orms, he's heard stories about plen.
<br />ty of others.
<br />,... "1 thought of the flash flood three
<br />,weeks ago." he said. "It blew out a
<br />gny's bridge about a mile up."
<br />_. He decided to scout for damage, so'
<br />he drove up toward the firehouse.
<br />"The first view I had of the creek,
<br />:U was roiling and ugly - 20 feet
<br />'wider than usual," he said. "1 thought
<br />:of backing up, but I couldn't see,"
<br />-. . Melvin knew Rich Gato's driveway
<br />. was off to his right, so he drove up
<br />~ into it. Then he waited.
<br />. "I just w<ltched it comf'," he said
<br />
<br />Double Disaster
<br />The flood damage in and around Buffalo Creek is the direct result of the fire
<br />in the area less than three months ago.
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<br />2 3
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<br />Lo" ... ,
<br />s",ggy~, ;",' em' I
<br />Peak -'
<br />oOlfer,~ 1
<br />fJ: Buffalo u-{ i i
<br />>.creekT"f Sadalla ,
<br />I"" ~ I
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<br />'67 -126 !.l 25 I
<br />~:.y __~e~ ~~_S i
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<br />""'-~"~
<br />
<br />The loll:
<br />. 2 dead
<br />. Section oi jeiierson County Highway '126 washed away
<br />. Rrk-Iop. w:=l.!':hed awav
<br />. North Fork firehouse destroyed
<br />. Ambulance totaled
<br />. Recreation center iifted from its loundalion
<br />. Severa! cars and trucks overturned
<br />. Hundreds of mature trees uprooted
<br />. loss of electricity and telephone service
<br />" Possibly no waler service in Buffalo Creek lor two months
<br />
<br />TM De",vllr PoSI
<br />
<br />..It kept getting bigger and bigger."
<br />
<br />Cara Limbocker was driving home
<br />during the downpour when she neared
<br />Buffalo Creek.
<br />
<br />"It was like an ocean coming at
<br />mC,"shesaid,asa firefighter wisked
<br />her away to a friend's house early
<br />yesterday. ~:l barely got turned
<br />
<br />arollnd But mv family is OK, and lilY
<br />house is OK, (Ill told', "
<br />Others were not so lucky. As lire"
<br />fighlers, sheriff's deputies and state
<br />troopers surveyed the damage before
<br />dawn, they learned that the flood
<br />claimed the life of at least one person
<br />(a SlX'ono virtim was lalerdi~covered).
<br />
<br />Local au1horitles and reporters examine a portion
<br />c~ ..laH:3rson Co:..:n~y ~2$ ~h:H w<::> w::sh~d c:;~ hi
<br />
<br />The Denver Post I Gaylon Wampler
<br />Friday night's Buffalo Creek deluge. Two people
<br />W~ie kmed du;hig th~ stciiii.
<br />
<br />Not knowing the person's identity, gen-
<br />der or age, they repeatedly referred to
<br />the person as "the fatality."
<br />The fa/amy is in a car,
<br />Someone thought they saw the vic-
<br />tim on the olhe; side of the creek.
<br />We can't get 10 the fatality,
<br />Because the road was washed out,
<br />rescuers had to double back and drive
<br />an hour to get close to where the ve.
<br />hicle might be. Al 2:30 in the morning
<br />il was still unclear where it was.
<br />The creek must have swept the fa-
<br />1,1Jitl'3W3V
<br />A . Jeffel:~on COllnty sheriff'~ chop"
<br />per flew overhead as deputies ra-
<br />dioed directions and guided it by
<br />
<br />waving their flashlights toward the
<br />sky. The helicopter beamed Its spot-
<br />light down on the aff'fI. searehing for
<br />cars, houses, bodies
<br />Deputy Shettler initially hop!:!d the
<br />heHcopter might beable to determine
<br />what an object he saw protruding
<br />from the muck reall\" was.
<br />"We do.n't know H' it's a car or not
<br />because il~ so de!:!p in lhr mud," he
<br />said.
<br />nut the thick darkness made the
<br />answer to that question wait until
<br />daybreak. Then rescuers identified
<br />John Tinker, 43, of Pine Trapped in.
<br />side his Ford truck. Tinker drowned
<br />'when the creek washed him off the
<br />
<br />road. Another victim, Alex Salazar,
<br />73, of Lakewood, was caught in the
<br />raging waters of a neMbv stream
<br />close 10 the Douglas County line. .
<br />Befort! emergency workers left the
<br />scene to get some rest early yester-
<br />day. Jefferson County sheriff's Depu-'
<br />ty Jim Shires' flashlight caught a box
<br />that washed up near the firehouse. H(>
<br />pid(>l1 Ihl'Oughitscontents, finding
<br />more remnants 01 a firefighter'sdal-
<br />ly routine -- a checklist, some gogo
<br />gles, a pair of sCIssors.
<br />And, iromcally, a soggy Red Cross
<br />flier stuck 10 the box's side, streaked
<br />w\th ash and mud.
<br />'Be Prepared," it said
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