NEDERLAND — For one woman, her escape Saturday from the Cold Springs fire came by galloping through flames on her brown-and-white Mustang — Sunny — as she also rescued her daughter’s pony in tow.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Pam Harrington stands with her horse at the Gilpin County Fairgrounds where animals have been evacuated due to the Cold Springs Fire in this July 2016 file photo.
For a family camping in the area where the blaze began, not far from their home, survival was a matter of seconds as they left their wallets, cellphones and a camper behind with the fire and a wall of smoke just a few dozen feet away.
Two Nederland firefighters didn’t realize their house had been one of the first of five consumed so far by blaze until hours after authorities say a poorly extinguished campfire exploded into a towering inferno. They were too busy trying to catch up to the fast-moving disaster.
“Everything was just fire all around me,” Pam Harrington, who rode her horse to safety, recounted Monday. “I had to get out and the only way out was through.”
The Cold Springs fire northeast of Nederland stayed relatively docile Monday as federal resources and hundreds more firefighters descended upon the 606-acre blaze. While the fire is still listed at 0 percent containment, officials say overall the day was a success.
“This was a difficult firefighting day with these winds and they were able to keep this thing in check,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Monday evening, calling it remarkable that more homes weren’t lost.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn near the town of Nederland, July 11, 2016. Crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: Hot shot crews put our hotspots along Ridge Road as the Cold Springs Fire continues to burn northeast of Nederland on July 11, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. Officials say there is currently 0% containment and the fire stands at 606 acres. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: Concerned Nederland residents look over a map of the burned area of the Cold Springs Fire to see where their houses are after a community briefing at the Nederland High School on July 11, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn and officials say there is currently 0% containment and the fire stands at 606 acres. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Photo by Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Jennifer Sharp, left, and her husband Kevin Sharp, right, get consoled by their good friend Thomas Parker, center, after all watched the Cold Springs Fire rage out of control in an area that the Sharp's home is located July 10, 2016.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Folks gather along highway 119 just above to the town of Nederland to get a view of the Cold Springs Fire July 10, 2016.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
A slurry bomber make a drop along a ridge near highway 119 in Nederland fighting the Cold Springs Fire July 10, 2016.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
The Cold Springs Fire explodes along a ridge line as it continues to burn northeast of Nederland on July 10, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. The Cold Springs fire has more than doubled in size since it began yesterday. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
A Chinook helicopter heads back to Barker Dam to get more water as a few trees burn on a ridge near the town Nederland during the Cold Springs Fire July 10, 2016. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn near the town of Nederland, July 11, 2016. Crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Evacuee Andy Watt is grateful that he got his cat Sophie out of his house before having to evacuate from Ridge Road because of the Cold Springs Fire on July 10, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. The Cold Springs fire has more than doubled in size since it began yesterday. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Nederland resident Adam Jones takes pictures of an incoming helicopter as an Army Chinook helicopter dips into Barker Dam picking up water to fight the Cold Springs Fire July 10, 2016. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
A helicopter drops water on the Cold Springs fire northeast of Nederland on July 10.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Bryon Lawrence looks through a window from the Nederland High School gym to check on the Cold Springs Fire July 09, 2016. Lawrence had to evacuate his house and didn't know the status of his home at the time.
Andy Cross,The Denver Post
Trees crown on a ridge near the town of Nederland during the Cold Springs Fire July 10, 2016. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)\
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 10: A helicopter makes water drops on the Cold Springs Fire as it continues to burn northeast of Nederland on July 10, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. The Cold Springs fire has more than doubled in size since it began yesterday. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Folks spray down the roof a house near away 119 and Hurricane Hill Drive as the Cold Springs Fire continues near the town of Nederland July 09, 2016.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
A Red Cross shelter was set up for residents evacuated from the Cold Springs Fire at the Nederland High School July 09, 2016.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
A firefighter works the Cold Springs Fire near highway 119 on the outskirts of the town of Nederland July 09, 2016.
Andy Cross,The Denver Post
Nederland residents Dani Dillon, left, her boyfriend Wayne Rousseau, and their neighbor Dennis Conroy watch helicopters and tankers battle the Cold Springs Fire over their neighborhood near Highway 119 July 10, 2016. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Photo by Andy Cross,The Denver Post
Jennifer Sharp takes pictures of the Cold Springs Fire raging out of control in an area where Sharp's home is located July 10, 2016.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Folks hang out and keep their eyes on the Cold Springs Fire from the parking lot of the Nederland Middle/High School July 09, 2016.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn near the town of Nederland, July 11, 2016. Crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn near the town of Nederland, July 11, 2016. Crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
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The Cold Springs Fire continues to burn near the town of Nederland, July 11, 2016. Crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
However, during a meeting Monday afternoon with residents, Pelle said the fire’s roughly 2,000 evacuees should expect it to be more than a day or two before they are allowed to return. Boulder Canyon remains closed to traffic.
Pelle told those at Nederland High School, which is serving as an evacuation center, that the more than 460 firefighters battling the blaze are working their hardest to protect structures and get people back into their homes. The priority remains, above else, keeping residents and emergency responders safe.
An estimated $1.7 million has been spent so far on the blaze.
“Everything we have at our disposal is being used,” Shane Greer, incident commander, told reporters at an afternoon news conference.
Helicopter pulls water from Barker Reservoir for bucket drop
— Jesse Aaron Paul ☀ (@JesseAPaul)
Anger in the community is simmering over the two Alabama men being held on suspicion of leaving behind a poorly extinguished campfire, which is thought to be the source of the fire.
Jimmy Andrew Suggs, 28, and Zackary Ryan Kuykendall, 26, both of Vinemont, Ala., face felony arson charges. They appeared in court Monday; bail was set at $200,000 for Kuykendall and $150,000 for Suggs.
Formal charges likely won’t be announced until Wednesday. According to an arrest affidavit, Suggs said that, “It had to been us (sic). There was no one else around.”
Investigators said Monday they were able to track down the pair after acting on tips that they were seen running from the area where the fire broke out.
“I’m kind of put out over it,” Rachael Dew said Monday of the fire’s cause. “You need to be better-educated about fires if you are going to come up here and camp.”
Said Sheriff Pelle: “If you’re going to have a fire, put the damn thing out.”
Others, like Capt. Charlie Schmidtmann, the Nederland firefighter who lost his home of five years, were exasperated.
“When you burn down a community, that’s a big deal to us,” he said, explaining that Nederland’s transient population in the surrounding land poses a big wildfire risk. “If they made an attempt (to put out the campfire), it wasn’t a very significant attempt in my eyes.”
One of his family’s dogs — Clyde, a Labrador-husky mix — was found about a quarter-mile from the smoldering ruins. The pair aren’t sure how he got out of the house unscathed.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
NEDERLAND, CO - JULY 11: Nederland firefighter and resident Bretyln Schmidtmann holds her dog Clyde after a community briefing at the Nederland High School on July 11, 2016 in Nederland, Colorado. Bretlyn and her husband Charlie lost their home and possibly their second dog Geno in the Cold Springs Fire. Clyde somehow escaped the house and survived before the house burned to the ground. Charlie found the dog walking in the woods.(Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Their other dog, a St. Bernard, has not been found.
The evacuation center at the town’s high school remained packed with residents eager to return home. Among them was Monica Cantu, who was camping with her family when the blaze tore through.
“We thought there was a car accident,” she said Monday outside the evacuation center. “One second you’re having fun, and the next we’re running.”
Cantu, whose home is in the evacuation zone, has been living with her family out of a Toyota Tundra pickup. She was working Monday on securing a cabin to stay in the nearby town of Black Hawk.
“We’ve been going from campsite to campsite, shelter to shelter,” she said.
Harrington, whose horses were miraculously unscathed despite the daring escape from the Cold Springs fire’s front, remains evacuated not only from her home but also a house she is under contract to purchase.
She said her smoke-curtained flight from the blaze pales in comparison to the way Nederland has banded together to deal with the fire, from neighbors opening up their homes to the local feed store providing meals for evacuated livestock and pets.
“Itap unfortunate that things like this have to happen to show you how beautiful your community is,” Harrington said. “It is the gift of times of intense situations — which happen in the mountains a lot — that you really do see how incredible people are. What I did was really small really.”
