Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.  It was a busy few weeks for emergency rescuers and mountain deputies.

On Monday, September 25, hikers located what they believed to be a marijuana grow on a hillside in the South St. Vrain Canyon. They called the Boulder County Sheriff's Office to report the plants.

The Boulder County Drug Task Force, Boulder County SWAT team, and United States Forrest Service hiked into the remote area and found an unoccupied marijuana grow operation.  The grow was erected by unknown subjects on private property, without the landowner’s permission.

On Tuesday, with the assistance of the Army National Guard, flying a Black Hawk Helicopter, the Boulder County Fire Management Crew and SWAT team prepared loads that will be flown from the remote mountainous area to the Boulder County Transportation yards, located at 5201 St. Vrain Road, Longmont, CO.

On September 1,  at 1:33 p.m., Boulder County dispatch received a call of a structure fire at 1385 Melvina Hill Road, in unincorporated Boulder County west of Boulder, in the burn area of Four Mile Canyon.

The Four Mile Fire Protection District, along with Sugarloaf Fire Protection District, Sunshine Fire Protection District, Boulder Emergency Squad, AMR Ambulance Service, and the Boulder County Sheriff's Office all responded to the call. It was reported that flames were shooting through the roof.

When the fire departments and emergency workers arrived the fire was quickly extinguished.

The fire appears to have been accidentally caused by a cigarette left on a plastic bucket sitting on a wooden deck.  Approximately $10,000 in damage occurred to part of the deck and roof, but this damage should be easily repairable.

 No injuries were reported, and the fire did not spread beyond the house. The public is reminded that although cigarette butts may seem extinguished, many times they remain hot enough to start a fire if not properly put out in a non-flammable container or bucket filled with water.

On Monday, September 1, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office  received a report of a 14-year-old boy who was backpacking in the area of Kings Lake off of Rollins Pass Road, who was having severe abdominal pain. Jeff Coors, the grandfather of the victim, hiked out of the back country to the Town of Nederland and contacted the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office for help.

Members from Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Grand County Search and Rescue coordinated a joint rescue of the ill party. The terrain and access required both search and rescue agencies to respond. The patient was contacted by search and rescue responders and provided medical care.  He was able to hike out of the back country and was transported by Grand County Emergency Medical Services to a local hospital.

On August 17, Timberline Fire and Evergreen Alpine Rescue carried a women with a broken ankle out from Crater Lake. It was a rough and steep trail and the rescuers had to carry the litter down, about three miles to the trailhead.