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',**S'A :Sunda~, July 14, 1996 ~I ~'~Firehouse, ambulance other casualties of floodwaters u g.REEK from Page' A ~";Uke it used to, Bul nobody anticipated the power :.-of Friday's flood. '~"~:;"It was just a big wall of water," said Jefferson County sheriff's Depu. ~..~ Ed Shetuer. "Il was just like when ....-~a were a kid making a dam, and ......the water got too big for it." .::;"": No one could walk to the station ru- ......;tns because emergency workers feared :. :"JUte ground would act like quicksand. Half the handle of a lawnmower stuck ..-o.(Iot above the mud In front of the fire- 1'l..;'Muse, revealing the depth of the ~".d1umed sill and soggy earth __...... Downstream, long strips of the .,. Atrehouse's front wall tangled with a telephone pole, and countless tree iY~oots and pieces of concrete road formed a partial dam in the creek ;.'":where the Jefferson County 126 ...lbt'ldge once stood. The firehouse's ';ptopane tank - with 700 gallons of 'fuel stH! in it - ended up even far- ther down the creek. ~ 'Nearby, a community center washed off its foundation and sat bat- fered but in one piece next to its orig- 1nal spot on the banks like a scene ..zr'om the Wizard of Oz. ~~~Me1vin was eating a late dinner in his house above the creek when the -\-.niin and lightning began late Friday ~ght. Melvin's family'has been com- ing to the Buffalo Creek area since 1869, so he's not only seen some good storms, he's heard stories about plen- ty of others. _ "I thought of the flash flood three .weeks ago," he said. "It blew out a gl!Y's bridge about a mile up." .. He decided to scout for damage. s<l he drove up toward the firehouse. , "The first view I had of the creek, :\t was rolling and ugly - 20 feel wider than usual," he said. "1 thought :of backing up, but t couldn't see," - 'Melvin knew Rich Gato's driveway ~ was off to his righl, so he drove up ~into it. Then he waited . "I just watched it come," he said . I THE DENVER POST Double Disaster The flood damage in and around Buffalo Creek is the direct result of the fire in the area less than three months ago. 3 I miles 'La". J,.' scra8)Y I;;8S,.,H(' Peak ~-' 1Cooifer .t i Buffalo ~t ~reek "-'f Sedalia I T~ ~ " - j-;:; 67\ ";26_, (4 \..ti'oeckers The toll: . 2 dead . Section of Jefferson County Highway 126 washed away . Bridge washed away . North Fork firehouse destroyed . Ambulance totaled . Recreation center lifted from its foundation . Several cars and trucks overturned . Hundreds of mature trees uprooted . loss of electricity and telephone service . Possibly no water service in Buffalo Creek lor two months "It kept gelling bigger and bigger." CaTa Limbocker was driving home during the downpour when she neared Buffalo Creek "It was like an ocean coming at me," she said, as a firefighter wisked her away lo a friend's house early yesterday"} barely gol turned Tne DerNe' PoSI around But my family is OK, and my house is OK, I'm lold" Others wcre not so lucky. As fire- fighters, sherirf's deputies and slale troopers surveyed the damage b<!fore dawn, they learned that the flood claimed the life of at least one person (a second viclim was later discovered). Local authorities and reporters examine a portion of Jefferson County 126 that was washed out in rhe Denver POll I Oeyton Wlmp'lr FrIday nIght's Buffalo Creek deluge, Two people were ki1led during the storm. Not knowing the person's identity, gen- der or age. they repeatedly referred to the person as "the fatality." The fatality is in a car, Someone lhought they saw the vic- tim on the other side of the creek, We can't get to the falality Because the road was washed out rescuers had to double baek and driv~ an hour to gel close to where the ve- hicle might be. At 2:30 in the morning it was still unclear where it was. The creek must have swept/he fa- talit)' away. A Jefferson County sheriff's chop- per flew overhead as deputies ra- dioed directions and guided it by waving their flashlights toward the sky. The helicopter beamed its spot- light down, on the area. searching for cars, houses, bodies Depuly Sheuler initially hoped lhe helicopter might be able to determine what an object he saw protruding from the muck really was. "We don't know if it's a car or not becaus(' its so deep in the mud," he said But the thick darkness made the answcr to that question wait until daybreak. Then rescuers idenlified John Tinker, 43, of Pine. Trapped in- side his Ford truck. Tinker drowned when the creek washed him off the road, Another victim, Alex Salazar, 73, of Lakewood, was caught in the raging waters of a nearby stream close to lhe Douglas County line. Before emergency workers left the scene to get some rest early yester- day. Jefferson County sheriff's Depu- ty Jim Shires' flashlight caughl a box that washed up near the firehouse. He picked throu!:"h its contents, finding more remnants 01 a firefighter's dal' ly routine - a checklist, some gog- gles, a pair of scissors. And, irOnically. a soggy Red Cross flier stuck to the box's side, streaked with ash and mud. "Be Prepared." it said.