Fire at Stahl Orchards in Paonia Took 5 Hours to Extinguish

Paonia Fire Chief Mike Byers and his volunteer crew responded to a fire in a shed belonging to Stahl’s Orchards just outside of Paonia about 4 pm Monday afternoon. Twenty-one fire-fighters and seven trucks were involved in fighting the blaze, which took five hours to extinguish. Byers says the fire began when a tractor that had been parked in the shed ignited due to a faulty generator or starter. The shed was used to store fruit packing boxes and in addition contained apple wood and what Byers called “a small amount” – less than 500 pounds – of ammonium sulfate used for fertilizer. Byers said the fertilizer did not ignite. Firefighters brought in a track hoe that happened to be located a few block away working on a Paonia road construction project to pull one side of the building away so they could get to the blaze. A fruit packing building directly adjacent to the shed was saved. Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee said the County used reverse 911 calls within a short radius of the fire