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CBS4 Learns Cause of Oxyoke Wildfire

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Aug 16, 2008 8:47 pm US/Mountain

CBS4 Learns Cause of Oxyoke Wildfire

Written by Paul Day

Reporting
Paul Day

DECKERS, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: One of the firefighting planes makes a drop above the Oxyoke wildfire.
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Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) confirms one of its power poles most likely caused the Oxyoke Wildfire.

"There's a high probability this was the cause," said Ed Jenks, IREA's Operations Manager.

The Oxyoke Wildfire started July 20 near Deckers in western Douglas County and quickly became the most expensive fire of the summer along the Front Range.

IREA was contacted by CBS4 after the station learned a "faulty power pole" was blamed for the fire from U.S Forest Service Special Agent, Travis Lunders.

Lunders declined to disclose who owned the pole.

The Sedalia-based electric utility's ten county service area includes distribution lines along the South Platte River where the Oxyoke Fire started.

Jenks provided the following account: Three days after the blaze began, on July 23, an IREA crew met Forest Service investigators at a power pole closest to where the fire started.

Three power pole parts, a hot-line clamp, a bail and a jumper were removed from the pole and provided to the investigator.

"They had a hard time getting it off," Jenks said. "There was some melting."

The Oxyoke Fire only burned 110 acres on national forest land, but the Forest Service hit it hard with all available resources because the blaze erupted on a watershed critical to Denver with a history of catastrophic burns.

The final firefighting cost was $700,000.

Recovering costs is a big priority for the Forest Service this year because the national firefighting budget is nearly depleted by the unprecedented, summer-long wildfire crisis in California.

So is IREA prepared to accept financial responsibility? "I can't comment on that," Jenks said. But he added, "With what I know now, I'm going to contact our insurance company."

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