GRAND COUNTY, Colo. — Dan Stones, whose cabin near Lake Granby didn’t burn like the others around it, was in awe of something a contractor found on his property Sunday afternoon.
The contractor, brought in by the Grand County sheriff to shut off water and clear out pipes for the impending winter weather, found a note attached to the house.
“We just burst into tears when he read that note,” Stones said.
The note, from Meeker Fire Engine 1446, apologized to Stones for firefighters not being able to save a shed. The first sentence read, "If this note finds you, we must have done something right.”
“Not only did they save our house, they apologized for not saving the tool shed, like that even matters,” Stone said. “This beats any Marvel movie, Avengers movie you could ever watch. These people are saving our world. And there’s nothing I could ever do to repay that.”
“If the whole world came together and said 'thank you,' it wouldn’t be enough,” he said.
Officials estimate that between 300 and 400 homes have been lost in the East Troublesome Fire. The fire exploded from 25,000 acres to more than 192,000 last week, leading to evacuations in popular tourist destinations on both sides of the Continental Divide, including Grand Lake and Estes Park.
Firefighters were able to protect Grand Lake proper and keep the fire from spreading into Estes Park before a snowstorm dumped a foot of snow on the burn area over the weekend.
The East Troublesome Fire is the second largest in Colorado's recorded history. It is second only to the Cameron Peak Fire, which is burning 11 miles away and has exceeded 206,000 acres.
The three largest fires in Colorado history have all burned in 2020.
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