MOFFAT - A house fire in Moffat, which began Wednesday night and destroyed a large residence on Lincoln Street near County Road T, continues to burn on Thursday afternoon. According to Saguache County Sheriff Dan Warwick, the fire will likely continue to burn until an excavator can be brought in to “bring down the structure” and the fire can be extinguished.

Northern Saguache Fire District, Mosca Hooper Fire Department and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control are on the scene, monitoring the situation.

According to Warwick, at 6:02 p.m. on Wednesday night, a person inside the residence called the sheriff’s office to report the house, owned by former Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers, was on fire. It is not known if Myers was residing in the house at the time, but Warwick confirmed that the resident was able to escape without injury.

According to Bobby Woelz, Saguache County Emergency Manager, the Northern Saguache Fire Protection District was first on the scene, including firefighters from the Saguache Fire Department, Moffat Fire Department and Villa Grove Fire Department. Saguache Fire Department took command and requested additional assistance from Mosca Hooper and Colorado Fire Prevention and Control.

According to Warwick, the fire originated in an incubator for chickens and “the flames are now inside the walls.”

As he explained, “In order to tear out the walls to get at the fire, you have to have a structure that’s secure and stable enough so that it’s not dangerous. [Firefighters] can’t go inside the house to address the fire or even try from the outside to go through a wall because the house is just too unsafe and unstable to try to smack it with an axe.

“We’re going to have an excavator come in and knock it down so they can completely extinguish the fire at that time.”

Woelz, acting on firsthand information from those on the scene, said, “The house had a basement and the first floor has collapsed. The second floor is in the process of collapsing. It’s a total loss.”  He also anticipated that the fire would continue “to smolder for at least a couple of days.”

Lincoln Street is currently closed and emergency personnel on the scene are instructing people to avoid the area.