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<br />Sunday, July 14, 19'
<br />
<br />THE DENVER POST
<br />
<br />
<br />[ITe sets stage for Buffalo Creek flood that kills ~
<br />
<br />
<br />'flood was, you would say, 'How did bad left their campfire UDdouse(;
<br />that come out of that stream?'" lowing a gust of wind to spreadlt
<br />Mark's parents, Susan and Steve sparks that started the blaze.
<br />Davenport, bad no news about their "Now people are getting tillcC
<br />son for more than 12 hours. said ODe woman, bitter over the bo~
<br />"We actually didn't know bow seri- carelessness. ..
<br />ous it was until we watched the 10 In the aftermath of the fire, "!Ii
<br />o'clock news, and at that point tpere oat seeds were planted in the bain
<br />was nothing we could do," Susan Dav- areas, but the sprouts badn't CI'Q'
<br />enport said. "We called Pablo's fami- enough to help mitigate the floc
<br />Iy, and this morning (Saturday) at Givenlnotbermontb,tbeseedsnlig
<br />10:30, we got a call that they got out have fully sprouted, mlnimizi..Dgt
<br />and he was OK." damage, ODe official said .t4
<br />Jim Enix, a vacationer from Okla- Stacey Dreier was driving 1(tJ
<br />homa who keeps a summer home in Deckers to Conifer along Jeff&s
<br />Buffalo Creek, said the deluge de- County 126 wben the UHated 10
<br />stroyed 200 feet of fence on his prop- TInker passed ber in his t.rvct. y(
<br />erty and uprooted dozens of trees. terday, she learned wbat bad bappt"
<br />Tbe floodwaters swept away Enix's ed to him. ',;
<br />utility trailer. "It should bave been me. . . ..G
<br />"We just have a big sand acreage was with me," she said.. _
<br />where there used to be beautiful trees Mary Green, whose tamily ow
<br />and grass," he said. "We come out ev- the general store that serves u.t
<br />ery year to enjoy the season, but this post office, voting precinct and CO$!
<br />year has been a bummer." center of BuCfalo Creek, was amo
<br />. Among the casualties of the flood yesterday's weary-looting_ 1.
<br />was a home for teenage boys who are "I have this terrible feeling," I
<br />victims of abuse. said, "that 1996 will never end." '.
<br />"Without water, we can't keep Contributions to rebuild the BuU~
<br />them here," said its director, Chuck Creek firehouse can be sent to-'t
<br />Carrington. "Unfortunately, we have North Fork Fire Protection Distri,
<br />no place to go." P.O. Box 183, Buffalo Creek, Co'
<br />A group of Lakewood teenagers on SOUS. '.'1
<br />an overnight camping trip acciden- Staff writers Cindy Brovsly, P,Rt
<br />tally started the May 18 fire that ex- cia C111ab.an and Angela Cortez 0
<br />acerbated Friday's damage. The boys tributed to this report. 11
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<br />-.eowner Marianne Spradlin said she saw 8 neighbor's propane
<br />rush by In the swollenwaters of Buffalo Creek. Trees that lined
<br />"Oad near her house ended up In 8 gully. I
<br />
<br />County sheriff's Lt. Fritz Day.
<br />it until you see the devastation.
<br />won't believe it. H's one click
<br />t of nuclear."
<br />lOOrers wielding pickaxes and
<br />,bars began dismantling what
<br />lert of the fire slation yesterday
<br />.e a front-end loader pushed dirt
<br />. the spot where the bridge had
<br />d, enabling pedestrians to cross
<br />stream. Helicopters overhead
<br />-cbed for more victims, although
<br />! were anticipated.
<br />Iewn along the road were over-
<br />ed cars and trucks, uprooted old
<br />s and giant sections of asphalt.
<br />storm had washed propane tanks
<br />trees down the creek and filled
<br />.es and cars with mud.
<br />3e town was still without electric-
<br />lnd telephone service yesterday,
<br />officials predicted there wouldn't
<br />
<br />be running water until Septemher at
<br />the earliest. Several vacationers said
<br />they would stay despite the lack of
<br />drinking and bath water.
<br />"I suppose we can go to Denver for
<br />a shower," said one. '
<br />The water problem was uppemlOst
<br />in the mind of 85-year-old Katherine
<br />Ramus, owner of the Blue Jay Inn, a
<br />bed-and-breakfast that's on the Na-
<br />tional Register of Historic Places.
<br />"I've been here since 1921," she
<br />said. "I have seen this gully flooded
<br />many times, but this is the worst. The
<br />water never got this high before. I've
<br />seen floods bring down trees and
<br />beds, and one lime a dead cow. But
<br />never anything like this."
<br />Friday's flood was the second crisis
<br />in three months for sisters Jennifer
<br />King McGuire and Aimee Rogers and
<br />their parents. Aimee and her parents
<br />
<br />Wait until you see the
<br />devastation. You won't
<br />believe it. It's one click
<br />short of nuclear.
<br />
<br />Sheriff's Lt. Fritz Day
<br />
<br />,
<br />
<br />lost their homes to the May fire.
<br />When the deluge hit, they thought
<br />they'd lost Jennifer.
<br />Aimee said Jennifer, scared she
<br />would die, wrote letters to her family
<br />and put them in plastic containers.
<br />Then she put her cat in a carrier and
<br />left ber house.
<br />"Dad was looking for Jennifer in
<br />the gullies," Rogers said. "Tbey
<br />thought she was dead."
<br />Jennifer turned up alive.
<br />Mark Davenport and Pablo Cone-
<br />,}os, 13-year-old Denver boys. spent a
<br />harrowing night in a family cahin
<br />outside a stream that empties into
<br />Buffalo Creek.
<br />"It started out as a sprinkle, then
<br />started thundering hard and raining,"
<br />Davenport said yesterday. "We just
<br />heard this boom, looked out at the
<br />creek, and it was a huge flood and it
<br />was just taking everything with it."
<br />The youths and two accompanying
<br />adults remained in the cabin over-
<br />night but oCten talked of moving to
<br />higher ground.
<br />"We looked out from the Hving
<br />room window and water was just
<br />splashing off rocks, getting about 10
<br />to 20 feet in the air," Davenport said.
<br />"Really big trees, 30 to 40 feet high,
<br />(would crack) and faU into the water.
<br />"But they didn't sink; tbey just took
<br />off like spears with the water. It was
<br />pretty unexpected, because the creek
<br />there is small, and to see how big the
<br />
<br />THE DENVER POST Cop,_,...
<br />A MediaNews Group Newspaper
<br />._. 11_
<br />11"--"1 In..
<br />-
<br />IlfM
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<br />Vol 104
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<br />No..S42'-
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