Gerald “Jerry” Little could never have imagined how his day would go after he finished squeezing off a few rounds at the Durango Gun Club on Sept. 27 as part of firearms training for his job with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. All was business as usual when he returned to his office and sat down at his desk and went to work.
Then one of his pant legs erupted in flames and suddenly his pants were on fire.
“Jerry frantically tried to put the fire out with his hands, burning all of his fingers in the process,” La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith wrote in an email to Don Mapel, president of the Hundred Club in Durango. The email was later shared with The Durango Herald.
Little was taken to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital where he was treated for his burns. After doctors consulted with a burn center in Denver, it was recommended that Little receive further treatment in Denver. He was admitted “to the hospital in Denver” on Sept. 28 and underwent skin-graft surgery Sept. 30. He was “expected to be released (Oct. 5), but doctors requested he stay within 15 minutes of the hospital for the following two to three weeks,” according to the sheriff’s email.
Efforts to reach Smith for comment were unsuccessful.
The suspected cause of the fire is a spare lithium battery for a “personal device” in Little’s cargo pocket. When he returned from the gun range to work, he had the spare, along with his cellphone and “five or six loose rounds of ammunition” in his pocket.
“We are not sure why the lithium battery overheated, but when it did it became a flaming flare in his pocket,” the sheriff wrote. “The fire ignited Jerry’s pants on fire and was hot enough to explode two of the loose rounds in his pocket.”
The sheriff’s email asked if the “tremendous expense” Little and his wife faced because of the accident and the necessitated stay at a hotel in the Denver area, was something the Hundred Club could help with. The Durango Hundred Club is a nonprofit that supports La Plata County first responders and their families in times of crisis.
Mapel said the Hundred Club made a donation to the officer.
The Sheriff’s Office filed the paperwork for a workman’s compensation claim, but were unsure the accident would be covered.
Several efforts by The Durango Herald seeking additional details about the extent of Little’s injuries and his recovery, the type of lithium battery that caught fire, or where Little received treatment in Denver were unsuccessful. Efforts to reach Little were unsuccessful.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Burke said only that Little is a case officer for pretrial services, a branch of the LPCSO detentions division. He said little didn’t want to speak about the incident, but would be returning to work in November. Burke also thanked the Durango Hundred Club.
gjaros@durangoherald.com
