Fire raged in 3 neighboring houses in Dumont, Colorado along Interstate 70 about six miles west of Idaho Springs (November 26, 2009)
A day of thanks turns to a day of sorrow for three families burned out of their homes Fire first engulfed the home of Richard and Linda Jeske, then spread to the homes of two neighbors.
Jeske was airlifted to University Hospital in Aurora and was in critical condition Thursday night. Neighbors say he was burned over 70% of his body.
You could see the inferno from Interstate 70. A Colorado Department of Transportation camera captured the wicked flames as they lit up the night sky before 5 a.m.
Firefighters from three districts frantically fought the ferocious flames. They say it was a difficult day.
"You're up here in the middle of the mountains. You're in steep valleys, going through snow, the cold, dragging hose lines, trying to see what you're getting into. It's a challenge," says Clear Creek Sheriff Don Kruger.
Firefighters also had to deal with howling winds fanning and spreading the fire. It did burn another neighbor's home to the ground and partially destroyed another.
"We were worried it was going to catch on the trees, then go to her house and keep going," says Cheyenne Zulka, 13, about concerns winds would blow flames onto her grandmother's house.
Also, Dumont does not have a municipal water system, so firefighters had to truck in water from nearby Idaho Springs and Empire.
The Zulka's lost everything, but say it could have been so much worse. "Very sad. But thankful. I could be going to a funeral," says fire victim Ed Zulka.
He and his wife, Becky, escaped from the home just as it caught fire. Their daughter was sleeping next door at her grandmother's house. Becky's brother saw Richard on fire and tried helping him. He went into Jeske's home to evacuate Linda. She was injured.
"All our thoughts and prayers are with them. They've lived here 32 years and they're like family," says Becky.
The Zulka's say they're unsure if the home is entirely covered by insurance.
They have a lot of questions. But no one to answer them since it's Thanksgiving and most businesses are closed.
One neighbor said he'd heard a turkey fryer may have started the triple fire, but Clear Creek fire has not confirmed that.
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