Fire destroys house

An empty home between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs burned down in an early Tuesday morning blaze that brought out firefighters and equipment from three jurisdictions.The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived shortly after 3:30 a.m. “You could see the glow from Carbondale. It burned hot and quick,” said Ron Leach, Carbondale fire chief.Apparently no one was residing in the house, at 5445 County Road 154 in unincorporated Garfield County. The structure was just west of the intersection of Country Road 154 and Highway 82 – the turnoff to Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus.Firefighters knocked down the flames and kept the blaze from spreading to various adjacent structures, including an Ace Roofing Co. warehouse and a 1,200-gallon propane tank. The house is a complete loss, according to Leach, who credited firefighters with keeping the fire from spreading to other buildings.”The surrounding structures were threatened,” he said.Leach identified Walt Stowe as the owner of the house, as well as the warehouse and other nearby structures.The fire was extinguished by about 9 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters don’t yet know what caused the blaze, Leach said Tuesday.”We have no reason to believe it was anything but accidental,” he added.Insurance investigators will take the lead in probing the cause of the fire, with assistance from firefighters, Leach said.Responding to the fire call were Carbondale firefighters with five trucks, Basalt firefighters with two trucks and Glenwood Springs firefighters with three trucks. In all, more than 40 firefighters responded. No one was injured.Janet Urquhart’s e-mail address is janet@aspentimes.com