Four regional fire departments responded to three mobile-home fires this week.
About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, two mobile-home residences caught fire at 2232 U.S. Highway 160.
The two residences neighbored each other and were a total loss, said Shawn Bittle, assistant chief of the Cortez Fire Protection District.
He said the fire appeared to have started in the yard of one of the homes, then spread to both residences. The fire is under investigation.
Several residents had to evacuate. One was injured in a fall while escaping the fire, Bittle said, and was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital.
“When I arrived, the first trailer was fully involved with a partial collapse,” Bittle said. “Sheer heat transfer” ignited the other trailer, which was about 30 feet away, he said.
Heavy debris on the property made fighting the fire a challenge, he said, and it was fought by four fire agencies for several hours.
Crews and equipment from the Cortez Fire Protection District, Pleasant View Fire Department, Lewis-Arriola Fire Protection District, and the Towaoc Fire Department all responded to the fire. In all, 14 firefighters battled the blaze.
Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputies and Southwest Health System ambulance also were on scene. The fire is under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and Cortez fire officials. The property’s listed owners are Charlie and Lynn Kaiser, according to county records.
On Monday night, a mobile home in the Happy Valley Trailer Park at 203 E. Seventh St. caught fire on the porch about 7:30 p.m. Firefighters from the Cortez Fire Protection District responded and “knocked it down quickly,” said Bittle.
The home was saved, and the fire is being investigated by the Cortez fire and police departments, Bittle said. The resident came home to find the porch on fire. It was reported by a neighbor or passerby.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
