Niwot Building Owner Helps Save Business From Fire

BOULDER COUNTY, CO -- A rooftop fire atop the Niwot Veterinary Clinic was extinguished on Wednesday with the help of the building owner, who was himself a former firefighter, according to a press release from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, fire and medical personnel from Mountain View Fire, Boulder Rural Fire, Longmont Fire, Lafayette Fire, Louisville Fire, and Rocky Mountain Fire, as well as sheriff's office deputies responded to the report of a structure fire at 6964 N. 79th St. in Niwot. The fire was reported to be on the roof of a single-story commercial strip mall.

As the first responding units arrived on scene, they discovered that the roof of the Niwot Veterinary Clinic was smoking. The owner of the building, a former firefighter, had been at the location when the fire was first reported, and was able to climb onto the roof and use a fire extinguisher to knock down the flames.

The effects of the fire appear to be contained to the roof of the building, with no apparent damage inside. Electricity was shut off temporarily while firefighters were working the fire, but business operations are not expected to be impacted once the scene has been rendered safe by fire personnel.

According to the sheriff's office, initial investigations indicate that the fire may have been started by an exposed electrical “heat tape” on the roof, commonly used to keep ice from building up in gutters.

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Photo courtesy: Deputy S. Kruise, via Boulder County Sheriff's Office