Firefighters working through cold, rain to contain two blazes

BAILEY, Colo. - As residents shoveled ashes from their yards and sifted through the rubble of their charred homes Saturday, firefighters worked in rain and light snow to cut off two wildfires burning in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Some homeowners were left with nothing; others found houses mercifully spared by the blazes that have blackened 21,000 acres and destroyed 54 homes since Monday.

''It's smoky in here; it's not too bad,'' said Ceilly Robl, as she walked through her home near the fire's edge southwest of Denver. ''There were several times we thought it was going to go. I could see the fire coming.''

Larry and Carol Myers found a lone pine tree standing next to the remains of their home. It was the one they had planned to cut the tree down because it is infected with pine beetles.

Robert McCoy, who lives in a nearby subdivision, said 11 homes were destroyed on his street. He described the neighborhood he drove through to reach as his home as a black forest that was total destruction.

''I built this house with my own two hands. I'm staying and maybe help my neighbors rebuild if I have to,'' he said.

Rain and snow on the narrow mountain roads kept most firefighters from a blaze east of Rocky Mountain National Park early Saturday. One crew spent the night near the fire site, and officials said firefighters expect to have it contained on Sunday.

The second fire, about 35 miles southwest of Denver, was expected to be contained by Wednesday, said Mike Rieser, operations sections chief for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.

Rieser said the light rain has been a mixed blessing for firefighters.

''It is a good starting point, but the only thing a light rain will do is hide the hot spots for a day or two. Now we would like to see some drier weather so we can find the hot spots.''

Both fires were about 70 percent contained by midday Saturday, allowing officials to send some firefighters to work on blazes in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Meanwhile, government leaders began assessing damage to the environment, including water resources metropolitan Denver relies on. Gov. Bill Owens toured the burned out areas southwest of Denver and met with homeowners in devastated areas.

Authorities also identified a suspect who may have started the fire while camping in the area. They said the 33-year-old Loveland resident, Kenny Winchester, has retained a lawyer and refused to talk with sheriff's deputies.

Both fires broke out Monday and spread quickly across the dry brush and timber of the foothills, propelled by hot, dry winds.

About 50 miles northwest of Denver, the fire east of the park damaged nearly 10,600 acres and burned 15 homes in a mostly ranching and farming region. Southwest of Denver, at least 39 homes were destroyed and an estimated 10,500 acres of wooded foothills were engulfed in flames.

All of the estimated 800 evacuees from both fires were allowed to return home by Saturday.

Fire managers estimated the cost of fighting both blazes had climbed to more than $4.2 million. Nearly 1,700 firefighters were on the scene by week's end, and helicopters and tanker planes had made scores of runs to drop water and fire-retardant.

The blazes are the latest in what is shaping up as the nation's worst fire season since 1996. The National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho reported that more than 45,000 fires this season have burned 1.2 million acres.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: http://www.co.jefferson.co.us