Fire brings help, s’mores, large number of Rangely firefighters

RANGELY I Ryan and Camilla Kennedy thought a fire extinguisher would put out the blaze started when a small gas fire grew beyond their control in their backyard last week.

That’s when they called their neighbor, Rangely Rural Fire Protection District (RRFPD) Fire Chief Andy Shaffer, to borrow one.
Unfortunately for the Kennedys, it was Monday night, the fire crew’s usual meeting and training time.
“I thought, ‘We carry water, not extinguishers,’” Shaffer said. “Then I realized we had 17 guys down at department who’d just finished their training. I said, ‘Get every truck over there to take care of a couple-gallon gas fire.’”
When the firefighters and six emergency response vehicles showed up on the curb, all the Kennedys could do was laugh.

“The neighbors were all staring on their porches,” Camilla Kennedy said. “We needed a fire extinguisher, that’s what I called the fire chief for, not the fire brigade. But it was nice, too, because I can call the neighbor for a fire extinguisher, but if we’d really needed something, there were six fire vehicles and 20 guys there.”
The Kennedys’ 1-year-old daughter, Kesleigh, for whom the fire was initially started, still got her chocolate s’mores by the evening’s end.
“She’s still telling people about it,” Camilla Kennedy said.