Investigators have added a massive hay fire at a dairy near Hudson to the list of a dozen suspicious fires being probed by an interagency task force, Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez said Tuesday.
The fire was reported at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and was burning in a 500-ton haystack at the family-owned Rossi Dairy at Weld County Roads 10 and 39 1/2. Firefighters said they expect the hay to burn for several days.
Martinez said this is among at least a half-dozen suspicious fires in Weld County in the past two months.
In September, three fires were ignited within a half-mile area about 7 miles southwest of Kersey. Two of the fires quickly joined together, scorching 1,000 acres and destroying an unoccupied farm home and several outbuildings.
Several days later, three fires were ignited within a half-mile area just west of Greeley. The largest of the three spread quickly toward a home and about six horses corralled nearby. The fire burned 10 acres.
Martinez said another suspicious fire occurred near Windsor.
The task force includes investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority and the Windsor Fire Department.
ATF spokesman Brad Beyersdorf said an agent from Cheyenne responded to Tuesday’s fire. The ATF arson-explosives unit based in Denver also has been assisting the task force in recent weeks.
Anita Rossi, who owns the dairy with her husband, said she has no doubt the fire was caused by an arsonist.
She said her husband awoke about 4:30 a.m. and saw the hay — their entire winter supply for 750 milking cows — ablaze. She said the burning hay cost about $50,000.
“It looked like a building was on fire,” Rossi said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
