Quick action kills shed fire

Two Green River residences were saved from being damaged in a fire thanks to the quick actions of a neighbor and first responders.

At 4:25 a.m. Oct. 22, the Green River Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at Desert Trails Trailer Park at 700 Schultz Street. Assistant Fire Chief Larry Erdmann said the fire was in a shed located between two trailers and was able to be extinguished with minimal damage and no injuries. 

“Dispatch got the call in at 4:24, and we were paged out at 4:25, so it was fantastic, quick dispatching on their end,” Erdmann said. 

Erdmann also praised the quick actions of the Green River Police Department officers who were the first on the scene. The GRPD unit that responded used fire extinguishers to help slow the fire down before the fire department arrived and fully extinguished the blaze with water from the fire trucks. 

“If it hadn’t been for the PD unit that arrived on scene first spraying with the fire extinguishers I think it could have been a lot worse,” Erdmann said, noting the fire could have easily spread from the shed to the nearby trailers. “It was a great save by the PD units to do that.”

As it was, the exterior of the shed was damaged and a little bit of skirting on one of the trailers was damaged, but not significantly. Some wooden materials and outdoor furniture were also burned, which is how Erdmann believes the fire was started. Ermann said it looked like some wooden materials had been leaned against the shed and then were somehow knocked over and fell into a nearby fire pit. Although it took some time, the fire seemed to have moved from the pit to the shed as it burned the materials and an outdoor chair. 

The fire was first noticed by the neighbor who called it in, Erdmann reported. The neighbor reported hearing a popping noise, which alerted her to the fire. The noise seems to have come from a small metal fuel can that exploded when the fire reached it. 

“The homeowners were very lucky that it didn’t get any worse,” Erdmann said. “Between the neighbor calling it in and the PD unit doing what they did, they...saved the day, both of them.” 

Sweetwater Combined Communications Joint Powers Board, Green River Fire Department, Green River Police Department and Castle Rock Ambulance Services worked together to respond to the fire.