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Gas leak causes fire in West Vail

Chris Outcalt
Vail correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado
Kristin Anderson/Vail DailyVail firefighters contain a fire Monday at the Chamonix Chalet housing complex in West Vail.
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VAIL, Colo. ” A gas line break sparked a small fire Monday morning outside the Chamonix Chalet housing complex in West Vail, Colo.

An Xcel Energy crew was working in the area when a gas line broke, leading to a small, outdoor lamp catching fire near the Chamonix Chalet “E” building. Vail Fire Marshal Mike Vaughn suspected the leak was caused by the Xcel crew.

The fire was about 30 feet from the housing building and right next to a tree and a few cars. No one was in the building when the fire started.



The Vail Fire Department responded to the fire at about 9:30 a.m. Crews couldn’t put the fire out because it would allow the gas to leak through the neighborhood, Vaughn said. Instead, fire officials contained the fire and waited for Xcel to shut off the gas line.

“We’re better off letting it burn off,” Vaughn said.




Joel Cervantes, who lives across the street from where the lamp caught fire, said he came home from work Monday morning and heard the hissing of the gas leak.

“I called 911 and started knocking on some doors,” Cervantes said.

coutcalt@vaildaily.com