Fire severely damaged a home Wednesday on the Florida Mesa, possibly the result of a malfunctioning hot tub, fire officials said. It was the third time in 20 years the house has caught fire.
The blaze was reported about 1:30 p.m. at 34 Meadow Road in the Meadowood Farms subdivision, about two miles south of Elmore’s Corner near a sharp left curve as drivers travel south on Colorado Highway 172 toward Durango-La Plata County Airport.
Someone driving by reported seeing flames on the front porch, said Tony Harwig, battalion chief for Durango Fire & Rescue Authority.
When firefighters arrived, the porch was fully engulfed and flames were creeping into the attic, he said.
The blaze appears to have started near a hot tub on the deck, said Fire Marshal Karola Hanks.
“This is the second fire in relation to a hot tub that we’ve had this month,” Hanks said. “It’s very important that people do proper maintenance on hot tubs, and that includes proper wiring.”
The home was described as a D-shaped log home owned by Linda and Scott Young of Durango.
No one was home at the time of the fire.
The home caught fire twice in the 1990s.
The first occurred March 8, 1996, with a faulty electrical backboard heater.
The second occurred Feb. 23, 1998, about two months after the house had been rebuilt from the previous blaze. The fire started in the master-bedroom closet; no further information was immediately available.
The most recent blaze caused significant smoke and water damage, Harwig said.
“It’s pretty damaged,” he said. It’s nonlivable, that’s for sure.”
A cat was thought to have been in the house, but no traces of it were found Wednesday afternoon, suggesting it may have escaped, Harwig said.
shane@durangoherald.com
