Turning Back the Pages

30 years ago – October 4, 1985

A volunteer firefighter was injured early Monday morning when one of the oldest houses in the north end of Gilpin County was totally destroyed by a fire. The owner of the house in Rollinsville, Champ Harbert, woke up early in the morning and could smell smoke in the house. At the same time, a Nederland firefighter who was on his way to work saw flames coming from the house. The dispatcher at the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Department was notified of the fire at 6:57 a.m. Within 10 minutes, five fire trucks from the High Country Volunteer Fire Department and about 15 firefighters arrived at the scene. According to Assistant Fire Chief Fran Etzkorn, the house was totally engulfed in flames upon their arrival. The fire was probably caused by an overheated chimney, Etzkorn said Tuesday. It started in the chimney-attic area, but it is difficult at this point to know the exact origin of the fire. Etzkorn said that Harbert and his wife said they had the chimney cleaned about a week before the fire. Sharon Peyrouse, one of the firefighters at the scene, was bent over near the house when the chimney fell on her. Etzkorn said the firefighting gear Peyrouse was wearing saved her from being more seriously hurt. The helmet she was wearing can no longer be used. Bricks from the chimney hit her on the head and back. Peyrouse was transported to Boulder Community Hospital by the Gilpin County ambulance service. Etzkorn said Peyrouse is seriously bruised and has sore muscles and tissues. Tuesday, it was unknown when she would be released from the hospital. Peyrouse had just graduated from the firefighter classes a week ago, Etzkorn said. Peyrouse told Etzkorn this week that she will continue to be an active member of the fire department. The dollar amount of the loss of the totally destroyed house is unknown. The house was insured, Etzkorn said, but Rollinsville is not in any fire department’s district. High Country Volunteer Fire Department did not have to respond to the fire, but it did. A benefit for the Harberts is being held tonight (Friday) at the Stage Stop Inn in Rollinsville starting at 9:00 p.m. Music for the benefit will be performed by the Hardly Heard Band and the Mountain Musicians Guild. All proceeds will be donated to the Harberts.

The Gilpin County RE-1 School unexpectedly closed on Monday and again on Tuesday. A number of parents were not notified that their children would not be attending school on Monday. The school buses picked up the children in the morning and a short time later returned them to their homes. For many children, arrangements had not been made for them to return home, and some children did not have any place to go for the day. Robert Bell, an employee of Black Hawk Hardware, said he opened up a “type of daycare” at the store for three children on Monday. He said, “There was no way the kids could be sent home because they had no place to go.” School Superintendent Fred Meyers said that as of Sunday he was notified that the school had water and that the water was safe. Monday morning the cooks at the school informed him that there was not any water. Meyers said that at first he through the valve was shut off for the school’s water supply. He said he had “no knowledge” of the school being out of water and it turned out to be “a larger problem that it was thought” to be. The water supply at the school is not expected to return to normal until next week. According to Meyers, the week before, arrangements had been made with the contractor working on the school additions to install a water main and lower the pipes into the ground to prevent the pipes from freezing. He said, “This was the weekend we scheduled it.” Wednesday, the school had one third to one half of a tank of water. Meyers said that instead of the estimated 6,000 gallons of water needed to flush the pipes, approximately 25,000 gallons of water were used. Meyers said school will be held today (Friday) because the students did not have school Monday and Tuesday. He is talking to the state about the children missing school for two days. He was not sure Wednesday if the children will need to attend school on another day for the other one that was missed.