A fire Sunday in Cortez dislocated two residents, sending one of them to the hospital, after a blaze broke out in a basement bedroom of a house at South Maple and West Third streets.
Only one of the two residents was in the house at the time. He was examined at the scene by an EMS crew from Southwest Health System and taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital for treatment after complaining of burns to his hands.
Firefighters from Cortez, Dolores, Mancos and Lewis-Arriola responded to the scene, at 240 S. Main St. Three engines responded to the blaze about 2:38 p.m. Sunday, according to Battalion Chief Rick Spencer of the Cortez Fire Protection District, after a call about a fire in the basement.
Spencer said the fire was extinguished at 3:10 p.m.
Smoke exited through the front and back doors of the home and through a vent near the roof, but the fire was contained to a bedroom in the basement, Spencer said. The home suffered extensive smoke damage.
The cause of the fire was not known Sunday, Spencer said. However, the evacuated resident said he believed it was caused by a coffee maker.
“He said he noticed the smoke when he was in the shower,” Spencer said.
Crews from the Cortez Fire Protection District, the Dolores Volunteer Fire Department, and the Lewis-Arriola Fire Department also responded to the scene. The Mancos Fire Protection District assisted with an “air truck” to keep firefighters supplied with oxygen.
Four officers from the Cortez Police Department managed traffic, blocking off South Maple and West Third streets at the scene of the fire beginning about 2:35 p.m.
