HERO WORKERS PRAISED IN FIRE RESPONSE

Town workers valiantly supplied firefighters with cascades of water for Thursday's inferno that destroyed almost 20 businesses in tiny Nederland.

"We used hundreds of thousands of gallons of water," Fire Chief Charlie Schmidtmann said. "We did run low."

"We were able to make up for that with tenders and ponds," the chief said.

He praised municipal workers, saying: "We had great assistance from the town. They had to move water sources throughout their system to make sure that we had a sufficient water supply."

Colorado Governor Jared Polis toured the scene of the disaster. "We know there is a long road ahead for the small businesses who lost everything and the entire Nederland community, and we will do everything we can at the state level to provide support," Polis said. Federal, state and local agencies are attempting to determine the cause of the blaze.

Polis said: "I thank the fire fighters and first responders for their quick response to this fire, as well as local leadership including Mayor Giblin."

[Photo: Office of Governor Jared Polis]