Unpacking the full findings of the Windy Gap Fire investigation
Izzy Wagner/Sky-Hi News
A report from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the cause of the Windy Gap Fire as lightning.
The blaze lasted for five days, closed down parts of U.S. Highway 40, burned 30 acres and decimated several abandoned cabins that once housed summer activities in the 1960s. While its burn scar pales in comparison to the nearly 200,000-acre East Troublesome Fire of 2020, which started less than 15 miles away, the fire caused concern among firefighters, investigators and patrons of the historic Windy Gap cabins. At the time, a shift in the wind could have meant serious trouble for Granby and surrounding areas.
Though pre-evacuation orders were in place from zones nearby the blaze, no evacuations were ordered, and the fire was declared fully contained by Aug. 11.
The Grand County Sheriff’s office released an official report documenting the cause and response to the fire. The report includes several narratives from Grand County Sheriff’s deputies and detectives.
First responders spot the fire
At approximately 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, School resource officer D.J. Elthorp was the first officer to notice the smoke while on patrol with trainee Bryce Sutton.
“We both observed a small column of smoke in the tree line east of Highway 40 (near milepost 207),” Elthorp wrote in his report. “Trainee Sutton and I made our way to County Road 57, on the other side of the tree line we saw the smoke, in an attempt to locate the fire. We did not see any smoke from County Road 57. We drove back to Highway 40, parked at Windy Gap parking lot looking back at the trees. At this time we did not see any smoke or flames.”
At approximately 12:36 p.m., Elthorp and Sutton were driving slowly back along Highway 40 when they spotted a fully engulfed tree. They called in the fire’s location on the radio. Then, they made their way to the fire on foot.
Sutton approached the fire and used a water extinguisher to keep the fire from climbing a large tree. At this time, the fire has grown to about 50 square feet and was expanding fast. Elthorp and Sutton walked out of the area back to the road.
Firefighters promptly responded to the call, and several detectives arrived soon thereafter. Detective Neil Brown received coordinates from a drone being operated by Lieutenant Jeff Bauckman as to the beginning area of the fire. By then, the fire was less than a quarter of an acre in size.
Detectives survey the scene
The next morning at 10 a.m. on Aug. 7, Brown and Sergeant Nathan Macchione entered the fire area to locate and determine the cause of the blaze with help from OnX maps, according to the report. They taped off an area around the coordinates, then located a tree that appeared to have been recently struck by lightning. Subsequently, Macchione and Brown consulted with fire investigators from the U.S. Forest Service to reference their findings.
Forest Service Special Agent Hannah Nadeau sent Brown a copy of a lightning map that listed several strikes in the area from Aug. 2 at 7:20 p.m. After eliminating other potential causes, fire investigators confirmed the tree as the proximate cause of the Windy Gap Fire.
The report consistently rules out human activity as the cause of the fire, stating there were no relevant roads, power lines or railways near the origin area and confirming that lightning was determined to be the cause. No mention of human activity contributing to the Windy Gap Fire is made in the report. The investigation is non-criminal and is now closed.
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An Aug. 2 lightning strike was the suspected cause of the Windy Gap Fire.
Grand County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photo
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The cause of the Windy Gap Fire was determined by fire investigators to be lightning, which struck a nearby tree.
Izzy Wagner/Sky-Hi News
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What remained of the Windy Gap Cabins was limited to old appliances, including a refrigerator, chairs, pipes and gas tanks.
Izzy Wagner/Sky-Hi News
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An abandoned Chevrolet truck sat in the rubble at the site of the Windy Gap Fire on Oct. 7.
Izzy Wagner/Sky-Hi News
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On Oct. 7, debris was visible where the Windy Gap cabins once stood.
Izzy Wagner/Sky-Hi News
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Fire fighters responded to the call and contained the Windy Gap Fire within five days.
Grand County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photo
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The Windy Gap Fire burned 30 acres in Grand County over the course of five days.
Grand County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photo
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At least 30 acres were burned in the Windy Gap fire this week.
Sean McAlindin/Sky-Hi News
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An old sign was burned in the aftermath of Windy Gap Fire west of Granby.
Sean McAlindin/Sky-Hi News
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The ground was charred and ashy at the site of the Windy Gap Fire on Saturday morning.
Sean McAlindin/Sky-Hi News
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The burn site is located between Windy Gap Reservoir, the Colorado River and U.S. Highway 40. Five cabins were destroyed by the blaze.
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