Barn Fire - 11/13/12 - Bayfield, CO

On November 13th, 2012 at approximately 0730 hours, the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District (UPFD) was notified of a barn on fire at 50637 US Highway 160, east of the Town of Bayfield. Firefighters arrived to find a well involved barn, as well as three immediate exposure problems. A Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank that sat adjacent to the barn, the residential structure next to the barn, and a small out building that was within close proximity to the fire building all required urgent attention. While all three exposures received heat damage, the efforts of the fire suppression forces kept the fire from spreading beyond the barn.

The residential structure and barn were located at the end of a long, single lane, driveway situated off of the highway. This site provided some challenges in providing the water needed to bring the incident under control. Water Tenders from the Durango Fire Rescue Authority (DFRA) and the Los Pinos Fire District (LPFD) responded as part of the County-Wide Automatic Aid Agreement. Deputy Chief Randy Larson, the incident commander, also ordered an additional Water Tender from DFRA. To overcome the lack to turn-around areas, and space to set up portable tanks, Deputy Chief Larson ordered the responding water tenders to set up a “Daisy-Chain,” and feed off of each other to supply the fireground operation. In all, eight Water Tenders were used to provide the two UPFD Engine Companies the needed fire flow.

With the exposure problems addressed, and water supply established, Upper Pine Firefighters were able to manage the defensive fire attack in getting the bulk of the fire knocked down and starting the long process of overhauling the remains of the structure. After the incident was declared “under-control,” and as each Water Tender at the end of the “chain” ran out of water, they were released from the scene. Units from the UPFD remained on the fireground until the early afternoon overhauling the site while investigators looked into the origin and cause of the fire.