House fire sparks in Silverthorne on Saturday, Dec. 10 | SummitDaily.com
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House fire sparks in Silverthorne on Saturday, Dec. 10

Responding entities include Summit Fire & EMS, the Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District and the Silverthorne Police Department

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Crews with Summit Fire & EMS work to put out a house fire in Silverthorne on the morning of Dec. 10, 2022.
Summit Fire & EMS/Courtesy photo

Editor’s note: This story was originally published at 10:30 a.m. and was updated at 11:15 a.m. with new information. It was given a final edit at 3:30 p.m.

No one was injured in an early morning fire that destroyed a home under construction in Silverthorne’s Eagles Nest neighborhood Saturday, Dec. 10, according to Summit Fire & EMS.

Firefighters were called 1265 Golden Eagle Road a few minutes before 6:30 a.m. and arrived 13 minutes later to find the home fully engulfed in flames, Summit Fire spokesperson Steve Lipsher said. For nearly two hours, about 25 firefighters battled the blaze in “brutally cold conditions,” Lipsher said.

“We’re thankful that it wasn’t occupied and that nobody was hurt,” he said. “We are very thankful that none of the adjacent structures were affected by the fire.”

Firefighters were able to prevent wind-swept embers from spreading the fire to a home to the north and heat from spreading it to a house to the south, according to Lipsher. Two medic units, who were cross-trained as firefighters, and five engine companies responded, he said.

The partially-constructed home was a full structure but did not yet have drywall on it, so it would have been months out from occupancy, Lipsher said. Water from the firefighting efforts left the street cloaked in ice, he said.

“It’s going to be a mess for a while,” Lipsher said. “It was so cold up here that everything was freezing right away.”

Bill Ashley, of Ashley Enterprises Ltd., a Silverthorne-based home construction company, confirmed he was the builder of the project underway at 1265 Golden Eagle Road.

Ashley said he appreciated the response by Summit Fire & EMS but declined to comment further.

William LaBahn, who lives two doors down from the 1265 Golden Eagle Road, described the blaze as “a spectacle.”

LaBahn said a neighbor called him around 6:30 a.m. to alert him to the fire, at which point he rushed out of his house and watched the firefighters battle the flames for about a half hour.

“It was pretty terrific to watch,” LaBahn said. “Because it was such a big fire.”

Embers were flying, he said, but luckily there was little to no wind.

Construction workers had been at the home earlier in the week and the project had gotten underway sometime in the spring, according to LaBahn. The nearest home to the blaze was only about 50 feet away to the south, he said.

Assessing records and building permit logs from Silverthorne indicate the property is owned by Swieb Living Trust. A permit for the construction of a three-bedroom, four-bathroom house there was issued Dec. 3, 2021, according to the town’s building permit log.

The 8,800-square-foot home under construction there was valued at $1.6 million, the building permit log states. Swieb Living Trust purchased the property May 4, 2021, for $389,000, according to assessing records.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious, according to Lipsher. The fire could be seen from as far as Blue River Parkway, and responding firefighters faced single-digit temperatures, Summit Fire said in a Facebook post. The Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District and the Silverthorne Police Department, along with the town’s water and public works department, assisted at the scene.

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Original story

12:45 p.m.: William LaBahn, who lives two doors down from the 1265 Golden Eagle Road, described the blaze as “a spectacle.”

LaBahn said a neighbor called him around 6:30 a.m. to alert him to the fire, at which point he rushed out of his house and watched the firefighters battle the flames for about a half hour.

“It was pretty terrific to watch,” LaBahn said. “Because it was such a big fire.”

Embers were flying, he said, but luckily there was little to no wind.

Construction workers had been at the home earlier in the week and the project had gotten underway sometime in the spring, according to LaBahn. The nearest home to the blaze was only about 50 feet away to the south, he said.

11:40 a.m.: Bill Ashley, of Ashley Enterprises Ltd., a Silverthorne-based home construction company, confirmed he was the builder of the project underway at 1265 Golden Eagle Road.

Ashley said he appreciated the response by Summit Fire & EMS but declined to comment further.

Assessing records and building permit logs from Silverthorne indicate the property is owned by Swieb Living Trust. A permit for the construction of a three-bedroom, four-bathroom house there was issued Dec. 3, 2021, according to the building permit logs.

The 8,800-square-foot home under construction there was valued at $1.6 million, the building permit log states. Swieb Living Trust purchased the property May 4, 2021, for $389,000, according to assessing records.

11:15 a.m.: No one was injured in an early morning fire that destroyed a home under construction in Silverthorne’s Eagles Nest neighborhood Saturday, Dec. 10, according to Summit Fire & EMS.

Firefighters were called 1265 Golden Eagle Road a few minutes before 6:30 a.m. and arrived 13 minutes later to find the home fully engulfed in flames, Summit Fire spokesperson Steve Lipsher said. For nearly two hours, about 25 firefighters battled the blaze in “brutally cold conditions,” Lipsher said.

“We’re thankful that it wasn’t occupied and that nobody was hurt,” he said. “We are very thankful that none of the adjacent structures were affected by the fire.”

Firefighters were able to prevent wind-swept embers from spreading the fire to a home to the north and heat from spreading it to a house to the south, according to Lipsher. Two medic units, who were cross-trained as firefighters, and five engine companies responded, he said.

The partially-constructed home was a full structure but did not yet have drywall on it, so it would have been months out from occupancy, Lipsher said. Water from the firefighting efforts left the street cloaked in ice, he said.

“It’s going to be a mess for a while,” Lipsher said. “It was so cold up here that everything was freezing right away.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious, according to Lipsher.

The fire could be seen from as far as Blue River Parkway, and responding firefighters faced single-digit temperatures, Summit Fire said in a Facebook post. The Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District and the Silverthorne Police Department, along with the town’s water and public works department, assisted at the scene.

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