WILDFIRE WEST OF DURANGO GROWS TO 2,000 ACRES
A major thoroughfare through southwest Colorado — U.S. 160 — was closed Monday afternoon between Mancos and Hesperus due to the East Canyon fire, which grew to approximately 2,000 acres.
The road was re-opened later Monday after fire activity “slowed” late in the day, according to officials with the Bureau of Land Management. No structures have been lost so far.
The fire, west of Durango, is burning on BLM and private lands in both Montezuma and La Plata counties, according to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office. More specifically, the blaze is located on the east side of Weber Canyon and the west side of Cherry Creek, authorities said Monday.
Firefighters are attempting to keep the fire east of Road 46, south of U.S. 160 and west of County Road 105 and away from the Elk Springs and Elk Stream subdivisions. Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for both subdivisions after the wildfire broke out on Menefee Mountain on Sunday afternoon.
Some of those evacuation orders remained in place Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities were using two single-engine air tankers, one large air tanker, two helicopters and the San Juan Hotshot crew to fight the fire. Management of the fire will be turned over to Rocky Mountain TeamBlue, a Type 2 team, at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The complexity of the fire, the rugged terrain and the number of aerial resources led federal officials to go to a Type 2 situation.
Man dies in boating accident in Dillon Reservoir. A 68-year-old man was found dead Sunday after a boating accident caused him to fall into Dillon Reservoir Saturday, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred approximately at 2:30 p.m. Saturday after the Dillon Yacht Club’s Peak One Regatta had finished. A storm cell producing winds exceeding 40 mph and 4-foot waves hit the reservoir, capsizing several boats, according to the news release. The man, whose name has not been release, was the captain of a 21-foot racing sailboat that was traveling toward the marina.
The boat lost control while trying to change course, forcing him to go overboard. He was not wearing his personal flotation device. The boat then collided with a race committee boat.
The sheriff’s office and numerous other departments searched until 11 p.m. when it was called off due to storms with high winds.
The man was found using a VideoRay underwater remotely operated vehicle at approximately 3:30 p.m. Sunday in 180 feet of water. The incident remains under investigation by the Summit County Coroner.
Man sentenced to 60 years to life for child sex assaults. A Louisiana man convicted of sexually abusing children while he lived in Longmont prior to 2011 was sentenced Friday to 60 years to life in prison.
Timothy Mark Gemelli, 58, was convicted in December on all charges including multiple counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse.