Local News

Wearing a small metal hat, Ben Dugan used to venture into an abandoned mine by candlelight as a young boy growing up in Empire.

“Everybody who grew up there played in the old mines,” Dugan said. “It was the epitome of fun.”

Dugan is now an accountant with a 6-year-old son named Sam who sat listening to his father talk about his new book titled “Mines of Clear Creek County.”

As relentless rain created major flooding problems in Evergreen, local firefighters organized and initiated efforts to keep residents and property safe during the weekend of Sept. 13.

Chris Johnson, Evergreen fire operations chief, set up a command post for the Jefferson County Incident Management Team at Fire Station 2 in Bergen Park. Firefighters also were at Stations 1 and 5 that weekend to assist with operations.

An initial task for firefighters was getting word to residents about evacuations.

Neighbors were helping Upper Bear Creek resident Mark Footer clean up his yard and garage on Saturday afternoon while two backhoe operators shoveled debris from the property.

“The creek just covered the whole valley,” Footer said, describing the recent heavy rains that caused Bear Creek to rise over its banks.

Although his yard is soggy and many items in his garage were ruined, only one room of his home suffered damage, Footer said.

“We really came out well,” he said.

Sometimes good can come out of tragedy.

When Cactus Jack’s Saloon bore the brunt of the flood caused by the overflowing Bear Creek on Friday, owner Gary Mitchell Jr. knew he wouldn’t be reopening soon.

So rather than waste the 1,500 pounds of food in the saloon, he donated it to Evergreen Christian Outreach.