A fire on New Year’s Day destroyed a mobile home near Oxford and displaced its sole occupant.
No injuries were reported.
Los Pinos Fire Protection District responded to the fire, in the 5000 block of County Road 311 and was assisted by Durango and Upper Pine River fire districts. Los Pinos Fire Chief Tony Harwig said the home burned rapidly, damaging nearly all household items. The occupant received assistance from family and the American Red Cross.
The cause of the fire had not been determined.
“When we got there, the fire was three-quarters of the way involved,” said Harwig, who was incident commander at the scene. “The bedroom had a super lot of heat. I’ve never seen a bathtub melt completely to the floor in a room that didn’t have fire.”
Los Pinos arrived on scene nine minutes after the initial 911 call Wednesday.
Crews subdued the fire in 15 minutes but stayed on scene for 3½ hours to control hot spots and recover personal items. Medics checked the occupant for smoke inhalation and released him.
“An older, single-wide trailer like that – they just burn rapidly,” Harwig said. “We were so thankful that the homeowner got out.”
Friday, Los Pinos was still investigating the fire.
The occupant heard a pop from the utility area and saw fire, Harwig said. He tried to use the fire extinguisher, then ran outside. When his landlord arrived, they called for emergency response.
The Los Pinos fire marshal found the fire started near the water heater.
“Sometimes, we don’t (figure it out),” Harwig said. “Sometimes, it’s so burned and melted that it’s hard to determine the actual cause.”
