After A Wildfire, A Colorado Town’s Residents Reluctantly Sue Historic Railway

Cres Fleming got the call shortly after his neighbor spotted smoke. He jumped into a pickup that had been converted into a water tanker and plowed through waist-high weeds to the railroad tracks.

“It took two minutes and 24 seconds,” he said. “I timed it.”

When he reached the scene, flames were rushing up the hillside. Fleming is a 74-year-old retired chemist, not a fireman. But he’s been dousing spot fires near his house for nearly two decades.

This one was different. His water hose was too short, the winds too high.

The June 1, 2018, fire went on to torch 54,000 acres, making it the sixth-largest wildfire in Colorado history.