Officials from Denver International Airport have contacted several manufacturers of snow-melting equipment and will be testing the machines in the airfield and ramp areas this season.
“There are three or four melters on the way,” primarily for tests, DIA aviation manager Turner West told members of the media Sunday. He was responding to a Denver Post report that the airport was not prepared to handle a winter blast that shut DIA down for 45 hours last month.
West said snow removal was a significant issue and that the snow- melting equipment would improve “the time (it took) to get the airport back to life.”
DIA hired Critical Path Inc. of Missoula, Mont., to evaluate its snow plans and procedures. A preliminary report found that DIA needs high-speed, multifunction snow-removal equipment, industrial-size snow melters, more snow-removal employees and better communication within airport departments to handle big storms.
More local news briefs
KEYSTONE
Skier without helmet dies after hitting tree
A 56-year-old man who was on a ski vacation at Keystone with a friend died Sunday after he collided with a tree, according to the Summit County Coroner’s Office.
The man, a visitor from the Netherlands, was skiing on the Mozart Run without a helmet, the coroner said.
It appears he hit a bump, lost control and was airborne at least 2 feet when he struck the tree. He was conscious when found but died from blunt-force injuries, the coroner said.
The manner of death is accidental. The skier’s name has not been released.
DENVER
Arson suspect found in victims’ doghouse
Police and fire investigators said a man is suspected of setting a home ablaze Saturday night during a domestic-violence incident.
The fire started at 5169 W. Exposition Ave. about 8:36 p.m.
Neighbors called the Fire Department and reported that a woman and a child lived inside the house, said Denver Fire Lt. Phil Champagne.
When firefighters got there, they saw flames shooting from the home, but the woman and child were not inside.
While there, a firefighter was bitten on an arm by a pit bull mix. That dog and two other dogs on the property were taken by Animal Control officers.
While Animal Control was capturing the dogs, the officers found a man hiding in a doghouse. The man is suspected of lighting the fire, Champagne said.
Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones said she would not have access to the man’s name until today.
FORT COLLINS
Children find body in snow near church
A middle-aged woman was found dead and partially buried in the snow Sunday by children who were playing near Foothills Unitarian Church.
About 11 a.m., four children ages 6 to 10 found the body while playing on the west side of the church property, 1815 Yorktown Ave. in Fort Collins.
Police say a church member contacted them about the body.
The woman’s body had been there for some time, police said. There were no obvious signs of foul play, police said.
The Larimer County coroner will conduct an autopsy to determine the woman’s cause of death. Her name was not released.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Ice climber dies after falling 200-300 feet
A man preparing to go ice climbing Sunday slipped and fell an estimated 200 to 300 feet to his death, El Paso County Search and Rescue members said.
Witnesses said the victim had not yet put on all his climbing gear.
The man, whose identity was not released, was an experienced climber, said Mel Druelinger, a field team leader for El Paso County Search and Rescue.
Three groups were in Cheyenne Canyon to climb at the time, and some began CPR on the victim, Druelinger said. The man died before rescue teams could reach him.
BOULDER
Freshman applicants to CU up 12 percent
Freshman applications to the University of Colorado at Boulder are up from this time last year, just as admissions officials look to shrink the class size.
The campus received 18,410 applications by the middle of January, up 12 percent from the same time last year, said Kevin Mac Lennan, director of the admissions office.
Applications for the fall freshman class include 6,450 more from Colorado students compared with last year and 11,960 more from out-of-state students.
Transfer applications have been steady, MacLennan said.
