An elderly couple caring for their home next to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado were killed in a wildfire Wednesday evening, the sheriff said Friday.
The bodies of 86- and 84-year-old Lille and Marilyn Heleman were found Friday, Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetley said in a video statement.
The couple, who said the family got married at a young age, honeymooned in the area in 1952, and then bought property outside Grand Lake, refusing to move out as more than 100,000 acres were gutted in a pre-troubled fire on Wednesday evening. Was.
Immediate evacuation warnings were issued for the entire Grand Lake and other communities due to the rapid spread of the fire.
Shrotley called it a “catastrophic event for our small community” that affected Grand Lake, other subdivisions of North Grand County, and the national park.
There are no other missing people in the fire, Schroetley said. Loss assessment is ongoing.
Emergency responders met with firefighters helping evacuation efforts that pushed many people in the area, and the sheriff said they returned several times to continue evacuation efforts.
The couple spoke to their son Wednesday evening and were determined to stay, the family said in a statement read by the sheriff. The couple called the property “heaven on earth.”
The eastbound fire, which began Oct. 14 north of Host Sulfur Springs, was on Friday at 188,079 acres and accounted for 4 percent of the fire, fire officials said.
This is one of several large wildfires that have burned or are still burning in Colorado this year, including the three largest in the state’s record history.
The largest Cameron Peak fire burning west of Fort Collins was the largest, burning 206,977 acres and accounting for 60 percent of it on Friday, according to the Integrity InsiveWab Fire Information website. The fire started on 13 August.
East Trou Balum Fire ranks second. The Pine Gulch Fire, which was ignited by lightning and burned about 1,139,000 acres, was the largest in the state’s record history but is completely contained.
Schroetley read a statement from Hillemans’ family in which they told the couple they were adamant they would not leave the property.
They asked their son to call his siblings and tell them they were in their basement and felt safe, according to a family statement read by the sheriff.
Marilyn said on the phone that she smelled smoke, the family said. The son tried to call the parents by calling the siblings but got no response and on Thursday it was confirmed that the house was ruined.
The family statement said, “But our parents find comfort in this knowledge together with our parents and on their terms.” “They leave a legacy of hard work and determination to get under control – something Grand County will need.”
Wildfires have raged in the western United States this year, burning millions of acres of land in California, destroying more than 9,000 homes and other structures and killing 31 people.
In Reg Reagan, more than a million acres have been burned to the ground, more than 1,000,000 homes have collapsed, and nine people have been killed.
