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DURANGO, CO - On June 17th, 2008 at approximately 2:00 p.m. the Durango Fire and Rescue Authority (DFRA) was dispatched to a report of a barn fire in the area of the intersection of Highways 172 and 160. First arriving units were faced with a fully involved shed and fire rapidly spreading to a one-story house. Both of the buildings were vacant. Engine Two dropped a large diameter supply line at the entrance of a long driveway as they approached the involved structures.

Engine One tied into the supply line and deployed two drop tanks to begin tanker shuttle operations. Captain Scott Lauder put Tankers Seven, One, and Engine Seven to work in the water supply operation. At the fireground, Captain Jeff Harris and his crew were making ready for a defensive fire attack. Battalion Chief Rod Allen took command of the incident, assisted by Chief of Department Dan Noonan.

Two attack lines (a 2 ½” and 1 ¾”) were deployed off of Engine Two. Firefighter also had to deal with a brush pile that had also ignited, just east of the burning buildings. As additional firefighters arrived at the scene they were assigned to augment the personnel making the fire attack. Aside from the large volume of fire, crews had to contend with 91° F temperatures and wind gusts of approximately 15 miles-per-hour.

Engine Two’s Class “A” foam system was also used to assist with fire extinguishment. The combined efforts of the water supply and fire attack operations brought the fire under control in about 90 minutes. Firefighters spent the remainder of the afternoon mopping-up. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the DFRA Fire Marshal’s Office.