PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A NASA software engineer said he doubts a meteor shower ignited a cluster of 18 wildfires on the night of Sept. 25, as firefighters had speculated.

"By the time meteors hit the ground, they're just cool rocks," said Ron Baalke, who works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"They've been free-falling for up to 40 miles, and they're no longer on fire. They've already burned up," he said.

Baalke told Pagosa Springs Fire Protection District Chief Warren Grams Tuesday he doubted the meteor theory.

Firefighters do not believe the fires were arson and said Monday they may have been caused by meteors. A meteor streaked across the western Colorado sky on Aug. 17.

Grams said Tuesday the fires might have been caused by a passing aircraft. All the fires were reported at 7:35 p.m. about 15 miles west of town. All were the same size, about 30 feet in diameter, and were scattered along a line about five miles long.

"It's hard to get information these days because of what's going on in aviation and all the security measures," Grams said. "But maybe something fell from the air. There's no way of telling at this point what caused the fires."

•Story originally published by:
Casper Star-Tribune / WY - Oct 11.01

Posted Oct 09.01 Meteor Shower Suggested As Cause Of Fires
[Original headline: Maybe it was meteors: Wildfire cluster probed]

PAGOSA SPRINGS - Firefighters are investigating whether a meteor shower ignited a strange cluster of wildland fires across 4 miles in the Cat Creek Road area the night of Sept. 25.

Up to 18 small fires erupted around 7:30 that night. The Pagosa Springs Fire Protection District extinguished the small blazes and had them mopped up by early the next morning. In four or five cases, area residents were the first to douse flames since they were threatening their homes, officials said.

District officials don't suspect arson, believing instead that some sort of natural event ignited the blazes, firefighter David Vega said. Crews used metal detectors last week to try to find bits of any unusual elements in the area of the burns. So far they have come up empty-handed.

Officials are asking anyone with information regarding the fires to call 970-731-4191.

•Story originally published by:
Denver Post / CO | Electa Draper - Oct 09.01

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