Fire erupts at auto salvage yard

RIFLE – By 5:45 p.m., firefighters had contained a blaze that erupted at Spangler’s Auto Salvage between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.Rifle Fire and Burning Mountains Fire Protection crews contained the blaze at Spangler’s, at 27925 Highway 6 & 24, just east of Rifle. No one was injured in the incident.

Vernon Giles, a deputy with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, said the fire started when workers at Spangler’s were pouring gasoline into 55-gallon drums. Static electricity sparked the blaze, Giles said. A thunderstorm was passing through the area at the time.”The rain helped,” Giles said. “The wind hurt.”

The Colorado State Patrol was on site and diverting all traffic around Spangler’s, off Highway 6 & 24 to Mile Pond and Peterson roads. Kenny South, a resident of the nearby Cottonwood mobile home park, was at home when the fire began. Cottonwood residents did not have to be evacuated during the fire.

“The smoke is unreal,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s cookin’. There are all kinds of explosions and stuff. The smoke is black and thick. I had to turn my swamp cooler off because of all the smoke.”Spangler’s yard contains hundreds of demolished cars, with flammable materials like tires, engine parts and electrical wiring. Crews contained the fire by about 6 p.m., but it was still burning and they remained on site.