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Harp Moving Fire Started with Out-of-Control Campfire, Investigation Concludes

Austin Cope
/
KSJD News
This photo taken in March shows damage to the back side of the Harp Building, where officials say the fire started.

The fire that gutted the Harp Moving and Storage Building in Cortez at the end of March probably started after a campfire behind the building spread out of control.

That’s according to investigations by the Cortez Fire Protection District and the Cortez Police Department. Cortez Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Bittle says vagrants are known to start small fires in that area to keep warm during the winter. Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane says no one was present when emergency crews arrived to the fire in the early morning hours, and the campers probably left once the fire spread. The city has closed the structure any access. Bittle says the owner and the insurance company are determining the building’s future

Note: The phrase "homeless person" in this story has been replaced with "vagrant" to more accurately reflect Bittle's comment.

Austin Cope is a former Morning Edition host for KSJD and now produces work on a freelance basis for the station. He grew up in Cortez and hosted a show on KSJD when he was 10 years old. After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2010, he lived in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, northern Wyoming, and Himachal Pradesh, India before returning to the Cortez area. He has a degree in Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio.
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