BAYFIELD, CO: As the first winter storm of the season passed through the area, firefighters from the Upper Pine Fire District (UPFD) were dispatched to a report of a garage fire in the Vallecito Resort area. As part of an automatic aid assignment, water tenders from the Los Pinos and Durango Fire Districts were simultaneously assigned to the incident. The initial report of the fire at 488 Tucker Lane came into the LaPlata County 9-1-1 on November 16th, 2015 at 12:25 hours. As first-due Engine 64 arrived on scene, they reported that they had a well-involved two-bay garage, and that they would be operating in a defensive strategy. As the initial incident commander completed a 360 degree walk-around of the fire building, he reported that multiple exposure buildings were present.

Soon after arriving on scene, Deputy Chief Josh Lorenzen took command of the incident. The defensive fire attack resulted in the bulk of the fire being knocked down shortly after the arrival of second-due Engine 62. With the forward progress of the fire stopped, both auto aid water tenders were cancelled. As conditions improved, UPFD firefighters were able to enter the structure to finalize extinguishment and start overhaul.

The fire building was an approximately 20’ X 30’ two-bay garage, with an apartment on the second level. The exposure buildings consisted of a large single family dwelling on the Bravo/Charlie corner, an outbuilding on the Charlie side, and two additional outbuildings on the Charlie/Delta and Alpha/Delta corners of the structure. The quick application of water to the fire building kept the fire from extending. The UPFD units that operated at the scene were Engine 64, Engine 62, Tender 62, Tender 65, Engine 61, Medic 61, EMS 60, Chief 602 (Deputy Chief Lorenzen), and Chief 603 (Deputy Chief Vreeland). At the time of this report the cause of the fire is under investigation.