Burned home leaves man 'devastated'

Rocky Colburn awoke at 2:30 a.m. Sunday to the smell of smoke and burning hair. For nearly 20 minutes, Colburn tried to fight the fire that ravaged his home. He is staying at his sister's house next door and had returned Tuesday to see if there might be some salvageable belongings. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — More than three days after a fire gutted the home which he occupied while he was remodeling it, the smell of the blackened wood and other materials still stings the nostrils.

And the traumatic affect of waking up to a smoking home, then not being able to quench the flames with a trio of five-gallon buckets of water from next door and thus losing almost everything is, indeed, devastating.

"I've been so damned devastated, it's not funny," 46-year-old Rocky Colburn confirmed Wednesday afternoon as he looked through haunted eyes at the patina of smoky residue on the pale yellow stucco above the now absent living room window at 920 Sage Ave. on Grants' near north side.

Still shaken after his harrowing escape from a burning home, the man answered the question of what he plans to do by saying, "That's a good question. I'll go on with my life. What else can a person do?"

He said the smoke woke him up around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, perhaps three hours or so after he went to bed on the couch, using the heat from Chinese elm wood burning in the fireplace to keep warm. Colburn said that although there was a screen in place in front of the fireplace, embers still ignited a nearby love seat.

Because of his harrowing experience he wanted to caution everyone. The 33-year resident of the city urged, "Watch your fireplaces. Here it is almost spring and one spark can lead to a big thing." He added, "What you really have to watch is cedar."

Colburn notes he was as careful as he knew how to be, using only two lanterns for light, and only carryed one at a time. Since he was sleeping, neither was lit, he said.

Despite what he told city and state officials, they have not yet announced the official cause of the fire, which was called in from next door at 3:27 a.m., according to police logs. The local cops and firefighters brought in the State Fire Marshal's Office. Police say the marshal believes the cause to be away from the fireplace. Authorities were waiting on laboratory test results, police added.

Yet Colburn said he lives alone and didn't see anybody in the house.

Because it was being remodeled the Estancia native said he's been at it two years come August electricity, gas or water was not hooked up. His attempt to extinguish the fire was a futile effort of 20-minutes, he estimated.

"Maybe because I was in a state of shock, and I'm not complaining about the fire department, it seemed like it took 45 minutes to an hour to put out the fire," he lamented. Fire department records were not available Wednesday.

Colburn said he did manage to salvage a bed which was in a corner bedroom the farthest from the flames along with a few pairs of pants.

On Monday, there were hand-lettered black on white signs attached to a Smith's grocery cart parked parallel to the curb, outside the yellow police tape, appealing for food, clothing, money, jobs, etc. He's since taken them down, saying he has received some help, including several job possibilities.

"I'll take on anything," he said. Colburn said he especially likes welding and electrical work, but can do about any type of construction-related job. "And, I'm a landscape designer, too," he added with pride. He said he did some of the landscape designs in a new subdivision north of the supermarket on the city's north side.

Lacking ready access to a telephone, he asked that anyone wanting to help to write to him at 920 Sage Ave., Grants, N.M., 87020, because the U.S. Postal Service still can deliver mail to him.

— To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone 285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).