Investigation continues into trailer court fire

    Last week’s fire at Capitol Mobile Court remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
    The early morning fire June 22 destroyed two trailers and a small camper parked between them. All were burned to the ground.
    Imperial Fire Chief Doug Mitchell visited with State Fire Investigator Ryan Sylvester Tuesday morning this week when Sylvester told him it remains an ongoing investigation.
    The two trailers that burned, one occupied that night and one that was not, were going through the city’s nuisance process, said Jo Leyland, City Clerk/Administrator.
    The unoccupied trailer on the corner on Lot 26 was in the 5-day notice stage, meaning trailer court owner John Baranway of Watkins, Colorado had 5 days to remove it from the property.
    However, the certified notice was not picked up, so the lot it sits on was to be posted with that notice, which hadn’t been done yet, Leyland said.
    The other trailer burned on Lot 27, with two men living in there, was in the courtesy notice stage. A second notice explaining it did not meet city code had been mailed, but not yet picked up by the owner, Leyland said.
    She believes the nuisance process on both trailers will come up at a July 11 special council meeting.
    The camper parked between them, also totally destroyed, was illegally parked in the court, Leyland added.
    Police Chief Ryan Wisnieski said Ramon Vera-Ramirez and Jamie Rascon Valencia were in the trailer on Lot 27. They escaped uninjured.
    Wisnieski said Ashley Dietz of Imperial was living in the camper, and was there that evening.
    IVFD firefighters responded quickly after the 3:45 a.m. call came across their pagers, Mitchell said.
    The city pumper and all rural trucks, eight in all, were on scene along with 26 firefighters.
    Mitchell said once they were set up, the fire was knocked down in good time.
    The city pumper was hooked up to a 12th Street hydrant, while a rural pumper accessed water from a hydrant on East 9th Street, both using LDH hose.
    At the height of the fire, a third trailer next to Lot 27 to the west was feared to also be lost, Mitchell said. A family inside was able to get out uninjured, he said.
    Firefighters kept water flowing on that trailer house, which was saved, but may have suffered some slight exterior damage, he said.
    Firefighters returned to the hall by 8:10 a.m., so were on the scene over four hours.
    A small fire at the site rekindled about 9 a.m. that morning. A truck and command car were dispatched, and it, along with some other hot spots, were extinguished.
    Yellow fire line tape was put up around the burned area to keep people away as the investigation continues, Mitchell said.
    It was a big help, he added, having two Imperial EMS ambulances on site. EMTs kept tabs on the firefighters, taking blood pressures and watching oxygen levels, he said.
    Two Imperial Police Department officers in two cruisers also responded that morning, and assisted the IVFD.