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Larry Garfinkel, 61, of Thousand Oaks, Calif, recounts his survival during a midvalley wildfire last week from his room at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs on Wednesday. (Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times)
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Long after the scorched grass turns green, the charred cottonwood trees are replaced and the damaged roofs are patched, Larry Garfinkel will still bear the scars of the County Road 100 wildfire.
Garfinkel was on an annual golfing and fishing trip with buddies when he got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time last week. A pleasurable outing turned into a nightmare that almost took his life.
He was the only person injured in a wildfire that threatened an estimated 300 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.
Garfinkel was in a group of four that picked that Tuesday, April 15, to fly fish in the Roaring Fork River and Sopris Creek at the edge of the Ranch at Roaring Fork subdivision, where they were staying in a friend's condominium.
They hit the water at 9:30 a.m. and noted the smoke off in the distance without alarm.
“We've seen controlled burns before,” Garfinkel said from his room at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs Wednesday. “The smoke appeared to be a couple of miles away — not even a concern.”
One of their group drifted off to fish on his own. Garfinkel and his two colleagues, Tom Greenup and Chuck Hyatt, enjoyed the morning but reassessed the fire after a break for lunch.
“In the one-half hour it took us to eat, that fire really began to cook,” he said. The winds were favorable and didn't send the flames their way. Nevertheless, they decided it was time to return to their car, parked roughly one-half mile away on a street at the west edge of Ranch at Roaring Fork.
The men had walked about 10 minutes and were within 300 yards of a cul de sac when the strong, swirling winds whipped the flames around them.
“It just began to crescendo. It was just like an unstoppable locomotive,” Garfinkel recalled. “It's roaring — you can hear that sound, you can feel the temperature go through the roof. And we began to run.”
The men were trapped. A wall of fire in front prevented them from advancing to their car. Another behind prevented escape down river. They veered north, toward Highway 82.
Garfinkel, 61, a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, couldn't run as fast as his colleagues because of a knee replacement.
“I told Chuck and Tom to save themselves,” Garfinkel said. “I couldn’t keep up.”
As the fire crackled in the brush around him and the wind blew thick clouds of smoke and embers his way, a willow bush at the edge of the creek “exploded” in flame just as Garfinkel grabbed it with his left hand.
“I told myself at the time the bush exploded I was going to burn to death,” Garfinkel said.
He was resigned to his fate. But somehow — Garfinkel said he honestly doesn't know if it was acting on instinct or courage under fire — he made his way into the shallow water of the creek, then into water deep enough to submerge him.
He said he looked up through about 4 inches of water and saw the flames flying past. “The fire just keeps coming,” he said. “I came up for air once and then went back down.”
The fire in the immediately area finally died away. It seemed like an eternity but Garfinkel estimated it was probably only one minute. He was able to sit up, but his wading boots were filled with water. He was unable to stand.
Hyatt came back and urged Garfinkel to his feet, warning they still weren't out of danger because the wind was making the fire unpredictable. Garfinkel could barely move and he was going into shock.
“Chuck said, 'You've got to get up because I'm not letting you die,'” Garfinkel said, pausing as the memory brought him close to tears.
Hyatt, 76, started dragging Garfinkel out of the creek and was joined by Greenup. The men were confronted with a sizable embankment when they approached the highway. Fortunately, a retaining wall was constructed with offset blocks, which created enough of an edge for them to climb up.
“That was like a ladder from heaven,” said Garfinkel. “Without it, all three of us would be dead.”
Garfinkel said it was evident to see his left hand was badly damaged, but he felt no pain at the time. He climbed with his partners' assistance, and they flipped him over the concrete barrier on Highway 82, just west of Ranch at Roaring Fork.
Witnesses, including a photographer and reporter from The Aspen Times, saw the three men emerge from the brush, surrounded by flames and smoke. Garfinkel collapsed on the edge of the road as people rushed to his aid. He was helped to the center median, then placed in a vehicle until an ambulance arrived and took him to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. He said he passed out during the wait and remembers little more of Tuesday. He called his wife Angie in Thousand Oaks and told her he was injured. It wasn’t until she talked to some of their friends that she realized how close Larry had been to getting killed.
Garfinkel was treated in the intensive care unit until Sunday for third-degree burns on his left hand, burns on the back of his head, smoke-filled lungs as well as complications, such as extensive swelling. An extensive skin graft was taken from his left thigh for his hand. Garfinkel is left-handed, so the palm of his hand wasn’t scolded as badly as the outside; he may recover use of the hand.
“I've got to get my hand back. I've just got to,” he said.
Garfinkel was released from the hospital Wednesday, eight days after the fire. He was scheduled to return home Thursday, then face what doctors say will be “months” of treatment and physical therapy.
He plans to seek treatment at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a top facility in the field. The care at Valley View also was top-notch, he said.
Garfinkel and Angie, who have been married for 26 years, are stuck with thousands of dollars in direct and indirect expenses to deal with his injuries, even though they have medical insurance. Airfare, hotel stays and associated costs have amounted to between $5,000 and $10,000.
At this point, the Garfinkels are simply grateful Larry escaped with his life. “I looked in the mirror and said, 'You're one ugly son-of-a-bitch, but I'm glad to see ya,” Garfinkel said, proving his sense of humor survived.
If a charge is filed against the party responsible for the fire, the Garfinkels may be eligible for victims' compensation. As of now, a criminal charge is uncertain. (See related story.)
After talking to authorities from the sheriff's office and Carbondale Fire Department, Garfinkel believes someone should be held responsible for the fire.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I believe this was a negligent act and somebody was responsible.”
Silbi Stainton, whose house in Mayfly Bend subdivision was threatened by the wildfire, learned of the Garfinkels’ plight and has visited them a few times in the last week. She is trying to raise funds locally to help defray the Garfinkels’ expenses.
“We can't and won't let his story be forgotten,” she wrote in a e-mail that is circulating. “And we certainly mustn't allow him to go home after all of this with the worry of debt on his mind. “
She is urging people to donate what they can by making a check out to Larry Garfinkel, then sending them to her to distribution: Silbi Stainton, 466 Ponderosa Pines Way, Carbondale, CO 81623.
Larry Garfinkel, holding on to Angie, said the incident made him realize that family, friends and health are all that really matter in life.
scondon@aspentimes.com
Garfinkel was on an annual golfing and fishing trip with buddies when he got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time last week. A pleasurable outing turned into a nightmare that almost took his life.
He was the only person injured in a wildfire that threatened an estimated 300 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.
Garfinkel was in a group of four that picked that Tuesday, April 15, to fly fish in the Roaring Fork River and Sopris Creek at the edge of the Ranch at Roaring Fork subdivision, where they were staying in a friend's condominium.
They hit the water at 9:30 a.m. and noted the smoke off in the distance without alarm.
“We've seen controlled burns before,” Garfinkel said from his room at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs Wednesday. “The smoke appeared to be a couple of miles away — not even a concern.”
One of their group drifted off to fish on his own. Garfinkel and his two colleagues, Tom Greenup and Chuck Hyatt, enjoyed the morning but reassessed the fire after a break for lunch.
“In the one-half hour it took us to eat, that fire really began to cook,” he said. The winds were favorable and didn't send the flames their way. Nevertheless, they decided it was time to return to their car, parked roughly one-half mile away on a street at the west edge of Ranch at Roaring Fork.
The men had walked about 10 minutes and were within 300 yards of a cul de sac when the strong, swirling winds whipped the flames around them.
“It just began to crescendo. It was just like an unstoppable locomotive,” Garfinkel recalled. “It's roaring — you can hear that sound, you can feel the temperature go through the roof. And we began to run.”
The men were trapped. A wall of fire in front prevented them from advancing to their car. Another behind prevented escape down river. They veered north, toward Highway 82.
Garfinkel, 61, a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, couldn't run as fast as his colleagues because of a knee replacement.
“I told Chuck and Tom to save themselves,” Garfinkel said. “I couldn’t keep up.”
As the fire crackled in the brush around him and the wind blew thick clouds of smoke and embers his way, a willow bush at the edge of the creek “exploded” in flame just as Garfinkel grabbed it with his left hand.
“I told myself at the time the bush exploded I was going to burn to death,” Garfinkel said.
He was resigned to his fate. But somehow — Garfinkel said he honestly doesn't know if it was acting on instinct or courage under fire — he made his way into the shallow water of the creek, then into water deep enough to submerge him.
He said he looked up through about 4 inches of water and saw the flames flying past. “The fire just keeps coming,” he said. “I came up for air once and then went back down.”
The fire in the immediately area finally died away. It seemed like an eternity but Garfinkel estimated it was probably only one minute. He was able to sit up, but his wading boots were filled with water. He was unable to stand.
Hyatt came back and urged Garfinkel to his feet, warning they still weren't out of danger because the wind was making the fire unpredictable. Garfinkel could barely move and he was going into shock.
“Chuck said, 'You've got to get up because I'm not letting you die,'” Garfinkel said, pausing as the memory brought him close to tears.
Hyatt, 76, started dragging Garfinkel out of the creek and was joined by Greenup. The men were confronted with a sizable embankment when they approached the highway. Fortunately, a retaining wall was constructed with offset blocks, which created enough of an edge for them to climb up.
“That was like a ladder from heaven,” said Garfinkel. “Without it, all three of us would be dead.”
Garfinkel said it was evident to see his left hand was badly damaged, but he felt no pain at the time. He climbed with his partners' assistance, and they flipped him over the concrete barrier on Highway 82, just west of Ranch at Roaring Fork.
Witnesses, including a photographer and reporter from The Aspen Times, saw the three men emerge from the brush, surrounded by flames and smoke. Garfinkel collapsed on the edge of the road as people rushed to his aid. He was helped to the center median, then placed in a vehicle until an ambulance arrived and took him to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. He said he passed out during the wait and remembers little more of Tuesday. He called his wife Angie in Thousand Oaks and told her he was injured. It wasn’t until she talked to some of their friends that she realized how close Larry had been to getting killed.
Garfinkel was treated in the intensive care unit until Sunday for third-degree burns on his left hand, burns on the back of his head, smoke-filled lungs as well as complications, such as extensive swelling. An extensive skin graft was taken from his left thigh for his hand. Garfinkel is left-handed, so the palm of his hand wasn’t scolded as badly as the outside; he may recover use of the hand.
“I've got to get my hand back. I've just got to,” he said.
Garfinkel was released from the hospital Wednesday, eight days after the fire. He was scheduled to return home Thursday, then face what doctors say will be “months” of treatment and physical therapy.
He plans to seek treatment at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a top facility in the field. The care at Valley View also was top-notch, he said.
Garfinkel and Angie, who have been married for 26 years, are stuck with thousands of dollars in direct and indirect expenses to deal with his injuries, even though they have medical insurance. Airfare, hotel stays and associated costs have amounted to between $5,000 and $10,000.
At this point, the Garfinkels are simply grateful Larry escaped with his life. “I looked in the mirror and said, 'You're one ugly son-of-a-bitch, but I'm glad to see ya,” Garfinkel said, proving his sense of humor survived.
If a charge is filed against the party responsible for the fire, the Garfinkels may be eligible for victims' compensation. As of now, a criminal charge is uncertain. (See related story.)
After talking to authorities from the sheriff's office and Carbondale Fire Department, Garfinkel believes someone should be held responsible for the fire.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I believe this was a negligent act and somebody was responsible.”
Silbi Stainton, whose house in Mayfly Bend subdivision was threatened by the wildfire, learned of the Garfinkels’ plight and has visited them a few times in the last week. She is trying to raise funds locally to help defray the Garfinkels’ expenses.
“We can't and won't let his story be forgotten,” she wrote in a e-mail that is circulating. “And we certainly mustn't allow him to go home after all of this with the worry of debt on his mind. “
She is urging people to donate what they can by making a check out to Larry Garfinkel, then sending them to her to distribution: Silbi Stainton, 466 Ponderosa Pines Way, Carbondale, CO 81623.
Larry Garfinkel, holding on to Angie, said the incident made him realize that family, friends and health are all that really matter in life.
scondon@aspentimes.com
