Walton Village Rho Fire - 1998

The Steamboat Pilot - June 15, 1998

By Melissa Roddy

Smoldering coals in a hibachi started a massive fire that destroyed a condominium building early Saturday morning in Steamboat Springs,officials said.

No one was injured in the fire that began on the deck of a downstairs corner unit in the Walton Village "Rho" building, 3343 Whistler Drive, Steamboat Springs Assistant Fire Chief Bob Struble said. Flames spread from the downstairs porch to the deck above, and from there into a wall and attic area.

"It vented up into the common attic area and ran the length of the building," Struble said. "Three units were fully involved, and when we got there, the attic was fully involved. Trying to stop the roof fire was difficult because it just spread so quickly in that open area."

With no fire stops in the attic to hinder its progress, the blaze quickly engulfed the roof, collapsing the ceiling of upstairs apartment units.

"Damage from the actual fire itself is probably confined to four units, but the overall damage is pretty substantial," Struble said. "It's structurally unsound on the upper floor where the whole roof collapsed down. Six units downstairs sustained heavy water damage.

"I think the building will have to be rebuilt from the ground up, but that's just my personal opinion."

Residents of the unit where the fire started had grilled dinner on the hibachi the night prior to the blaze, and thought they had the fire fully out when they went to bed, Struble said.

"The kids with the hibachi were very up front, they came forward and said, 'This is what happened, we think we started the fire,'" he said. "We chalked this up to an accident. It could have been preventable, but these things happen."

Relating what he was told, Struble said one of the men in the unit was woken up by the smell of smoke early in the morning and looked outside to see his deck engulfed in flames.

"The deck was fully involved and they tried to knock it back with fire extinguishers" to no avail, Struble said. "They did the right thing: They got out and started knocking on doors to wake people up and start evacuating them."

The calls to emergency personnel, from residents and the building's fire alarm system, started coming in around 3 a.m. Twenty-one firefighters from the Steamboat Springs Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze, assisted by a couple more people from the West Routt Fire Protection District.

"This is the biggest fire we've dealt with since Waterford last July," Struble said. "It took us a good hour until we could step back, breathe and regroup."

While firefighters were dousing the blaze with water, at the rate of 5,000 gallons per minute at one point, police and members of volunteer emergency assistance organizations were helping evacuated residents.

Representatives from Routt County Search and Rescue and Advocates Against Battering and Abuse were among those handing out blankets and lending a hand to two dozen cold and shook-up residents.

The evacuees went to St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Oak Street for a head count and further assistance, while employees of the property management company, Steamboat Resorts, lined up housing for those who needed it.

"People were shook up, but everybody was out safe, which was the important thing," said Steamboat Resort's Fred Silkey who helped find lodging for displaced residents.

"Some people went to stay with friends," he said. "We placed four different groups at The Lodge and four groups at the Ski Inn."

Steamboat Resorts representatives met with insurance estimators Sunday, but Silkey said it will be a while before a dollar figure can be put on the fire damage.

In the aftermath of the blaze, Silkey said the condominium homeowner's association will reassess its fire safety policies, particularly regarding outdoor grills.

A large number of local home fires start outside on decks and usually involve a grill, a lit pumpkin, or a container of fireplace ashes, Struble said.

Authorities have not yet determined whether arson charges will be filed against the residents of the unit where the fire started.

"We're proceeding slowly; we want to be fair. Obviously, these guys didn't mean to do this, but sometimes, when you do that much damage, you have to be held responsible," Steamboat Springs Assistant Police Chief Art Fiebing said. "The report has been sent to the D.A. to determine whether arson charges are appropriate. That decision should be made Monday."

The Steamboat Pilot June 15, 1998

By Tom Ross

Dawn Dwyer woke her boyfriend, Ben, and managed to grab her car keys and a gerbil named Zoe before fleeing her burning condominium early Saturday morning.

Dwyer was awakened by the fire alarm at Walton Village at about 3 a.m. No one was injured in the blaze, but the flames and water from firefighters' hoses destroyed nearly every unit in "Rho" building at the condominium complex.

Dwyer and Ben Saari were left to sort through their charred and water-soaked belongings during a persistent drizzle at midday. They have no renter's insurance. Their biggest loss was a 1-year-old Compaq Presario computer that Saari valued at $3,000. The young couple used the computer to do their Colorado Mountain College homework.

"I was pretty devastated," Dwyer said. "I did all the crying and everything else I could possibly do last night."

She and Saari lived in unit 7 of Rho building.

When Dwyer woke Saari, he said he rushed outside only to discover he was still in his boxer shorts. He ran back in and put on some pants, then came back outside to move his car. Dwyer's GMC Jimmy was left parked in front of the building, but wasn't damaged.

Their unit was not one of those closest to the east end of the building where the fire broke out. And when they first came outside, they said, their condo had not yet begun to burn. The other end of the building, however, was fully engulfed in flames.

Their first thought was of two friends who also lived in the building. The couple quickly spotted them in the parking lot and felt better.

After that reassurance, all Dwyer and Saari could do was watch as the flames raced through the attic toward their end of the building. When the roof trusses fell into their unit, their couch, bookshelf, coffee table and Lay-Z-Boy were all burned. Saari was hopeful his laser printer could be saved, but his computer was soaked with water and he was certain it was a goner.

Dwyer was most upset about the loss of personal photographs.

"We have a real close family," she said. "And all my photos of my nephews are soaking wet."

The Rossi family of Grand Junction was more fortunate than Dwyer and Saari. They own unit Rho 8, right next door, but Bob Rossi, his wife and two children don't live there. However, finding themselves between renters this month, they decided to make the drive to Steamboat for the weekend and camp out in the unfurnished condo.

Rossi said he had been informed that the fire alarms in the building had just been inspected the week before. It was the screaming sound of the alarms and people banging that woke him at 3 a.m. When he stepped outside, the blaze was so intense he could turn his back on the fire and still feel heat from the flames on his face as it reflected off the building across the parking lot.

"We're just happy to get out of there," Rossi said. "It was pretty darn incredible that just four units were (burned)."