But a generous contribution from a Cortez firefighter means the man with “nine lives” will still have a place to call home.
“I heard an explosion, and flames were 10 feet tall 7 feet from me,” Ellis recalls of the intense blaze on County Road 32.
Blocked from escape by fire and smoke, he headed for a window carrying a box with all his important papers.
“I was punching and punching through the glass with my hands and crawled out, but left the box,” he said. “I had about a half-minute before being suffocated and barely made it. My hands were cut up, looked like hamburger.”
The fire quickly destroyed the two-story home he built after moving to the property in 1975. The cause was undetermined.
When Lt. Mike Cabell, of the Cortez Fire Protection District, arrived at the scene, the house was engulfed in flames. He knew Ellis from a couple previous car crashes.
Knowing Ellis was homeless and without insurance, Cabell and his wife, Heather, decided to donate their 1980, 26-foot Winnebago to Ellis.
“The guy has had some bad luck. It was tough to see this added on, so we figured we’d give it to him,” Cabell said.
The nicely maintained RV has a full kitchen, bathroom with shower, sleeping quarters, couch and a generator. Empire Electric is hooking it up for power on the property.
“I’m so grateful for their donation, it’s beautiful and plenty big for me,” Ellis said. “It’s fantastic and really special to know the community cares.”
The fire was not Ellis’ first brush with death. In the 1950s, he survived being shot in the face by a fellow hunter. He was carried out by companions and “lost a lot of my nose and part of my cheek bone.” He survived an infection of rabbit fever (tularemia), survived a huge fall working as a tree trimmer, and has walked away from a few car crashes. Ellis is also a Korean War veteran.
“I’ve used up a few of my nine lives, I guess. There’s been some close calls for sure,” he said.
A beekeeper, cattleman and butcher, Ellis says he will soldier on, independent as always.
“I’ve got my cows, but lost my hives. I’ll get more bees and start over,” he said.
A donation account in Lynn Ellis’ name has been set up at First National Bank in Cortez to help him recover from the fire.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com