Aurora – Firefighters suspect children playing with fireworks started an Aurora fire that tore through eight apartments and damaged many more Sunday afternoon.
The Aurora Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the two-alarm fire at the Hickory Ridge Apartments, 17112 E. Adriatic Place. Witnesses said children were playing with fireworks in the area.
Residents were evacuated, and no one was injured.
Forty firefighters were called to the scene and extinguished the fire within an hour. Eight units sustained heavy fire or water damage and are unlivable. The American Red Cross was assisting those who were displaced.
DENVER
Two identified in fatal I-70 single-car crash
The Denver coroner’s office Sunday identified the two people killed early Saturday when the car they were in rolled down an embankment at Interstate 70 and Quebec Street.
Jonathan Gray and Anna Pryor, both 18, died in the accident, said coroner’s investigator Raylene Smith. Smith said both were from the Denver area but declined to release any more details.
The two were westbound on I-70 in a 2000 Oldsmobile early Saturday. As they exited at Quebec, their car ran off the left side of the exit ramp, sped down an embankment, then rolled. The driver was trapped in the vehicle, and the passenger was ejected, police said.
It was unclear Sunday whether Gray or Pryor was the driver.
AURORA
Police announce Tuesday funeral route
The Aurora Police Department has announced motorcade routes that will be used for the funeral of Detective Mike Thomas, who was shot and killed as he sat in his car at an intersection last week.
The funeral will be at Heritage Christian Center, 9495 E. Florida Ave. in Aurora, at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Motorcades will form at three Aurora police stations. They will meet for services and then join for the drive to Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 S. Sheridan Blvd. in Denver.
District 1 officers will leave the station at 13347 E. Montview Blvd. at 8:30 a.m. They will travel west to Peoria Street, south to East Colfax Avenue, west to Havana Street and south to East Florida Avenue.
District 2 officers will leave the station at 15001 E. Alameda Parkway at 8:45 a.m. They will travel south on Chambers Road to East Alameda Parkway, west to South Peoria Street and south to East Florida Avenue.
District 3 officers will leave the station at 23911 E. Arapahoe Road at 8:10 a.m. They will travel on Aurora Parkway north to East Smoky Hill Road, west to South Buckley Road, north to East Iliff Avenue, west to South Havana Street and north to East Florida Avenue.
The public is invited to join officers along the routes.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY
Low visitor numbers prompt gate opening
The Air Force Academy plans to reopen its southern gate to the public in early October, a move that is expected to boost sagging visitor numbers.
“Our view is that this is America’s academy and we want America to see it,” said Col. Jimmy McMillian, who commands the academy’s 10th Air Base Wing.
The Air Force estimates the number of visitors to the academy has fallen to 250,000 annually since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which led to tightened security at the 19,500-acre academy. Tourism officials estimate that as many as 1.4 million visits were made to the academy per year before the attacks.
The north gate has been open to the public, but the southern gate was generally open only to military members or for a few hours before and after football games.
The change could help with recruiting, McMillian said. It could also help athletic programs, which get money from sales of souvenirs in the Visitors Center. A drop in gift-shop sales led to a $2.4 million shortfall in the academy athletic department budget in 2004.
JACKSON, Wyo.
Grand Teton path plan cuts 20,000 trees
The plan to build bicycle and pedestrian pathways in Grand Teton National Park has some conservationists divided.
The National Parks Conservation Association is in favor of a National Park Service plan to build nearly 43 miles of paved pathways for recreationists. The plan would pave more than 50 acres of park and permanently disturb 82 miles. It would also cut down an estimated 20,000 trees.
The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance says the relatively small Grand Teton park cannot afford to lose valuable habitat, and the pathways will put people in dangerous proximity to wildlife that are seen on park roads.
