Boulder Fire Rescue delivers rings that were lost in blaze

Boulder Fire Rescue delivered an unusual gift to a couple at their Lyons wedding on Saturday afternoon — their rings.

It was a nice end to an odd story. Earlier in the day, the betrothed — who could not be reached for comment — and their wedding party took a trolley bus ride up Flagstaff Mountain ahead of their wedding ceremony when tragedy struck.

“We noticed that the trolley was overheating and the driver kept going,” wedding photographer Sarah Martin said. “About 200 feet from Lost Gulch — we were about 200 feet from the parking lot and smoke started coming out of the engine. The driver yelled ‘everyone get out.’ ”

She said everyone jumped off the trolley bus, and her husband grabbed the wedding flowers. The best man had left his jacket in the trolley bus, so the rings were lost when the bus burst

SI C Tinto flames and rolled down the mountain.

Boulder Fire Rescue Lt. Jeff Martinez said that the best man asked his crew, including Engineer Thomas Spannring and Firefighter Chris Rivera, if they could look for the rings.

“We looked but didn’t find any thing,” Martinez said. “We found some pieces of metal but they were too big to be rings.”

Martinez said that the trolley bus had rolled down the mountain and struck a tree, possibly moving the rings away from their original location. He added that the driver had done a good job of getting everyone off safely.

“I told my guys, ‘Let’s give it one more look,’ ” he said.

They found the rings under a good deal of rubble and soot.

“We brought them back here and cleaned them up and took all the black soot off of them,” he said. “We asked the chief for permission and took them to Lyons.”

They let the best man know ahead of time but told him not to tell the bride and groom, who were very pleasantly surprised.

“We pulled up with lights and sirens,” Martinez said. “We said we are here for a fire alarm but first we have to deliver some rings.”