NORTH FORK TIMES
SURFACE CREEK NEWS
MAGICAL PERFORMANCE Paonia High School students stage ‘Elf,’ a full-length musical, B3
SPORTS
COMMUNITY ORIENTED
Preschoolers collect food, clothing, plan annual fundraiser, B7
DELTA COUNTY
WINTER PREVIEW
Competition heats up for wrestling, basketball, swimming, C1-7 DECEMBER 7, 2016 VOL. 133, NO. 49
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INDEPENDENT
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USFS to remodel current location BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
Meeting with county commissioners on Monday for a “relatively informal presentation” and informational update, GMUG Forest supervisor Scott Armentrout said the agency will remain at its present headquarters location in Delta. Also attending the meeting was Paonia District Ranger Levi Broyles. The long search for a new GMUG headquarters has resulted in a proposed 10- to 15-year lease agreement to stay at the current headquarters in Delta on Highway 50 South. The building will be “completely renovated.” The agency will remain open during construction, which is scheduled to begin in the spring, Armentrout told the BoCC. The agency announced last February that it was expanding its search for a new headquarters to include existing buildings in the North Delta area, in areas not directly accessed by Highway 50, and south to the Delta-Montrose Technical College. No suitable option was located during that expanded search. Commissioner Doug Atchley said the county is “extraordinarily pleased at how the agency’s search for new head-
quarters has worked out.” The 45-minute-long meeting with commissioners touched on a number of forest related issues including the following ones: • GMUG staff will restart the process for a new forest plan in 2017. In 2007, a U.S. District Court barred the USDA and the Forest Service from implementing the agency’s 2005 Planning Rule, a move which effectively cancelled out the GMUG’s 2007 Forest Management Plan that was based on the rule. According to an agency advisory, “The GMUG’s current forest plan was developed in 1983 with five subsequent amendments. New guidance in the Forest Service’s 2012 Planning Rule directs forest plans to be science-based and developed with extensive public involvement.” Since the 2007 plan was scratched, two new developments have occurred — USFS TO A3
Managing Editor
Brian Aucutt, 58, a homeless Delta man, was seriously burned while attempting to ignite a kerosene heater late Friday afternoon. Aucutt was occupying the crawlspace in a vacant home at 210 Main Street, just north of Hoolie’s. A Hoolie’s employee reports that Aucutt walked into the restaurant. Although she knows Aucutt, she didn’t recognize him at first because of his blackened face and burned hands and head. “It was horrific,” she said. “I’ll never forget it.” Aucutt asked her to call the fire department. She dialed 9-1-1 and requested an ambulance as well, then grabbed some towels to apply to his injuries. Delta Police Department officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel arrived almost immediately, she said. Aucutt was transported by ambulance to Delta County Memorial Hospital and was later transferred to another facility. At last report, he was being treated at a Denver hospital with a burn unit. The door to the house at 210 Main is boarded up, but not because of the fire.
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ......................A11 Agriculture .....................C8 Back Page ................... D8 Business .......................A12 Church ........................... D4 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ......................... D2-3 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ................A9, 10 School Zone .................. A8 Service Directory ........ D7 Sports ..........................C1-7 Surface Creek News ...B6-8 TV Listings ................. D6-7
Text me!
The Delta High School Show Choir put a contemporary twist on Christmas with a song titled “Text Me Merry Christmas.” The high school’s three choirs provided short performances for the Senior Connection, a monthly gathering hosted by the Delta United Methodist Church. Enjoy more sounds of the season with a concert by the DHS band at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at the Delta County Center for Performing Arts. A complete list of holiday performances by students countywide can be found on page C2.
Mock disaster drill staged BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
First responders answering the call to a mass casualty EMS drill Saturday came
Homeless man seriously burned BY PAT SUNDERLAND
Photo by Pat Sunderland
The Hoolie’s employee, who declined to be named, said several break-ins have been attempted so the owners simply boarded up the door. She said her heart goes out to Aucutt. “I feel terrible for him,” she said. “He was just trying to stay warm.” She described Aucutt as a gentle soul who wouldn’t harm a fly. He has held a couple of jobs and is known to several people as “Car Wash Brian.” “We need to come together as a community to address the needs of the homeless,” she said. “We need to have more resources.” With the support of over 300 volunteers from the community, Abraham Connection operates a homeless shelter at 480 Silver Street. Emergency overnight shelter and food is offered to men, women and families. Anyone who needs assistance is welcome. “We are here to be that resource,” said board member Kami Collins. “We don’t want to see anyone cold or hungry. That’s the reason this nonprofit organization has been in existence for seven years.” For more information, to make a referral or to volunteer, call 773-8290.
Breakfast with Santa The Kiwanis Club of Delta is hosting its annual “Breakfast With Santa” from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at Bill Heddles Recreation Center. Kids eat for free; adult meals are available for $3 (Adults are not required to purchase a meal.) This year the kids will have fun decorating their own pancakes, doing crafts to take home with the DHS Key Club and visiting Santa in a non-commercial setting. Breakfast features pancakes, juice and milk. Coffee will be available for adults. Delta Kiwanis Club invites families to enjoy this fun, free event.
upon a realistic scene of a crashed airplane and a simulation of burning wreckage. Volunteer actors playing roles of airplane crash victims — the “walking wounded” — drifted about the exercise area acting dazed, confused and awaiting arrival of emergency help. Others lay on the ground calling for help and crying out in pretended pain. Those playing mock fatalities lay still. The mass casualty exercise held at Blake Field was a simulation of a tragedy that could someday occur. “Of course, you hope this kind of thing never happens,” said Delta County Ambulance District manager Kirby Clock. “But if ever does, you want to know that you are prepared.” The event organizer was Slim Farnsworth and his business, Rock Star Education and Consulting. Clock said, “Slim did a fantastic job. He put in a whole lot of work on the exercise.” The setting for the exercise held just south of Blake Field’s main runway lent a sense of realistic drama with help of airport managers Mark and Cheryl Husmann. Wreckage of a light aircraft from the Blake Field “junk pile” was carried to the scene. Thick, black smoke curled skyward from multiple fires set in oil drip pans simulating the debris of burning airplane wreckage. As medical responders arrived, they began moving professionally and purposefully among the injured just as their many hours of training had taught them. At the scene, an incident command center was set up as the task of making medical diagnoses
of the victims proceeded. Clock explained that early responders to such an event would have the job of setting up an incident command center. A triage and treatment center is also designated on site. The term “triage” in medical use is defined as “the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.” Medical personnel went about their jobs of evaluating each victim (which in some cases were played by an orange safety cone) according to the imaginary injuries written on an attached card. On-site treatment protocols and then transportation to the triage and treatment area starting with the most severely injured began. Responders participating in the drill knew the date and time but not the location or
nature of the scenario. The first call went out at 9 a.m. Over the radio in the Delta ambulance barn came the notice: “This is a drill. DCAD respond to Delta Blake Field. Jet has crashed. Fuselage on fire. Multiple injuries.” The exercise scenario was a commuter jet having serious mechanical problems, unable to make it either to Grand Junction or Montrose. The pilot, attempting an emergency landing at Blake Field, came down short of the runway. The imaginary crash resulted in the pilot’s death along with injuries and casualties to another 30 to 35 people, according to the simulation script. Other agencies were invited to participate in the exercise. Clock explained that a mass casualty event is one that overwhelms the local ability for response. The district has a trailer with supplies to treat MOCK DISASTER TO A3
Photo by Hank Lohmeyer
A helicopter from Montrose, one of the two helicopters participating in an EMS emergency drill at Blake Field Saturday, prepares to land.
Chief candidates complete interviews A large crowd accepted the City of Delta’s invitation to meet the seven finalists for chief of police of Delta at a reception last week. The list of finalists includes four Delta residents — Tim Jantz, former Moffat County sheriff and a criminal investigator for the Colorado Department of Revenue; Lucas Fedler, sergeant of investigations at the Delta County Sheriff’s Office; Charles Kettle, a patrol sergeant who has served as interim police chief since August 2015; and Jesse Cox, a 21-year Delta resident and Delta Police Department commander. Tony Erickson, former Palisade police chief; Jim Grayson, a retired law
enforcement officer and instructor from Colorado Springs; and Greg Tuliszewski of Craig also shared their experience and philosophy with interested citizens. The seven finalists were selected from 18 applicants and have a total of 169 years of law enforcement experience, city manager David Torgler said. “I’m confident we’re going to be able to come out of this process with our next chief of police.” The candidates were interviewed by members of the Delta City Council, but the final decision is Torgler’s. He has not said when that decision will be made.