Latest news with #Ouray
CBS News
05-07-2025
- CBS News
Families of women killed in Colorado crash sue, claim Jeep tour driver was under the influence
Attorneys representing the families of two Arizona women killed when a Jeep tumbled more than 250 feet off a cliff in southwestern Colorado three years ago are suing the tour company and the estate of the Jeep's driver. The lawsuit claims 72-year-old Don Fehd was a last-minute replacement driver who likely drank alcohol the night before or the morning of the accident. The crash killed Feld and his two passengers: Diana Robles, 28, and her aunt, 60-year-old Ofelia Perez, both of Yuma, Ariz. The three were returning from Yankee Boy Basin on Camp Bird Road near Ouray on Sept. 12, 2022. Feld, driving the 2022 Jeep Gladiator, was employed by Colorado West Jeep Rentals and Tours of Ouray. The Jeep traveled off the side of Camp Bird Road and rolled during a 260-foot descent to the canyon floor. Feld was ejected, the two woman remained the Jeep due to their seatbelts. The Jeep came to rest on its roof near the northern bank of Canyon Creek. A 2022 Jeep Gladiator is lifted by a heavy duty tow truck from the canyon floor back to Camp Bird Road outside Ouray on Sept 13, the day after it slid from the road in an accident that killed its local driver and two women from Arizona who were on a commercial tour. Ouray County Plaindealer Attorneys representing Robles's parents and Perez's spouse filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fehd's estate, the tour company, and the tour company's ownership in 2024. In an amended complaint, those attorneys claim Fehd's blood-alcohol content (BAC) measured 0.027% following a post-mortem blood draw. "There was alcohol in Mr. Fehd's system at the time of the crash," the complaint reads. "The BAC was calculated well after the crash thus the real BAC was likely much higher at the time the crash occurred." Colorado legal limit for alcohol impairment is 0.08%. The lawsuit also cites communications revealed by Colorado State Patrol investigators who examined Fehd's cell phone. According to data inside it, Fehd spoke by Zoom conference and text with members of an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Austin, Texas, for nearly an hour earlier that morning. Fehd is originally from Austin and moved to Colorado in 2002, according to the lawsuit. Fehd's phone also contained a message from the tour company's ownership 22 minutes before the four-hour Robles-Perez tour was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., according to the lawsuit. "Rich isnot (sic) here. He is usually making breakfast. I would say he is going to be a noshow (sic)," one of the tour's owners texted Fehd. Fehd responded, "I'm on my way, getting dressed." A tour company Jeep sits near Canyon Creek after traveling off a cliff on Camp Bird Road in September 2022. Three people were killed in the crash. The families of two women who were passengers in the tour are suing the driver's estate, the tour company, and its ownership. Colorado State Patrol In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim tour company ownership knowingly employed Fehd despite alleged drinking problems, as reported by the Grand Junction Sentinel. The most recent legal activity in the civil case shows an exchange of motions between the two sides in an attempt to determine the tour company ownership's liability for the fatal crash. Also from the Grand Junction Sentinel, a Colorado State Patrol investigative report on the accident found neither speed nor reckless driving were factors in the crash, and the alcohol in Fehd's system postmortem was due to decomposition and delay of refrigeration immediately after the crash. Fehd "drove straight off the road and over a cliff without any indication of evasive maneuvers or emergency braking," the lawsuit claims. Fehd, aside from piloting the Jeep tours, also drove and volunteered for the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team, that agency confirmed after the crash. The wrongful death case is being heard by a Denver federal court judge. The two sides have been given a year to exchange evidence in the case.
CBS News
23-06-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Red Mountain Pass in southern Colorado remains closed due to wildfire
A portion of Highway 550 in southern Colorado, also known as Red Mountain Pass, remained closed Monday morning due to a wildfire in the area. The highway is closed between Forest Service Road 886 and Amphitheatre Road from mile marker 87 to mile marker 92. That portion of the highway is located about five miles south of Ouray. A wildfire burning near Ouray has closed a portion of Highway 550 in southern Colorado. CDOT The fire broke out on Sunday afternoon near the snowshed area of Highway 550. According to the Ouray County Sheriff's Office, crews continued to work on the fire on Monday. There was no estimate on when the highway would reopen. During the closure, travelers are encouraged to take alternate routes, such as Highway 62 and Highway 145 traveling south or northbound.
CBS News
14-06-2025
- CBS News
Rockfall damage repaired, popular Colorado high country road re-opened
Camp Bird Road, a popular access for backcountry recreation southwest of Ouray, re-opened Wednesday after considerable rockfall damage was repaired. Ouray County authorities declared a disaster emergency in late January. At that time, large boulders above the road dislodged above a drainage near Senator Gulch and wiped much of the road and retaining wall supporting it. A worker uses drilling equipment to set explosives above Camp Bird Road in April. Ouray County Road and Bridge/Facebook Work to the mostly single-lane cliffside trail, formally known as Ouray County 361, began in earnest in April. According to the Ouray County Road and Bridge Department, that process started with reducing the element of surprise. Geologists recommended bringing down more rocks above the road which threatened the safety of people using it. Five hundred pounds of explosives were used to move an estimated 8,000 tons of additional material. The process further damaged the retaining wall, a fenced design called a hilfiker wall. Camp Bird Road, further damaged by rockfall following mitigation efforts to bring down precarious rock in May. our Once debris was cleared, a Norwood-based company, EarthTech West, initiated the rebuilding process. Workers from Ouray County Road and Bridge and EarthTech West work to re-establish a hilfiker retaining wall and new roadway on Camp Bird Road. our Ouray County Road and Bridge/Facebook The road was re-opened to foot and bicycle traffic during non-working hours on June 1. Camp Bird Road re-opened June 11 following a months-long repair effort. Ouray County Road and Bridge/Facebook Camp Bird Road connects to one of the state's premier four-wheel-drive adventures, Imogene Pass Road. The drive climbs to over 13,000 feet in elevation between Ouray and Telluride. Though the turn-off intersection is now accessible with the just-finished repairs, the high pass itself is not yet open. Bulldozers are currently trying to plow snow from the Ouray County side and are approaching the summit. However, once that path is cleared, vehicles will not be able to descend into Telluride. Rockfall, too, recently closed the lower portion of the Imogene Pass trail out of Telluride. That road, County Road K68/Forest Service 869 (informally known as Tomboy Road), has been closed since a section near Royer Gulch was washed out during a storm in August 2024. San Miguel County has accepted bids on the project and is aiming for a possible re-opening in September -- in time for the annual Imogene Pass Run footrace after Labor Day. Both closures posed serious problems for first responders heading into the summer recreation season. Camp Bird Road leads to exceptional hikes in Yankee Boy Basin, namely 14,157-foot Mt. Sneffels and several 13,000-foot peaks surrounding it. Without vehicle access to the area, any emergencies calls for search and rescue would likely require helicopters. That situation is now resolved, although any search and rescue help from the Telluride/San Miguel side is still limited by the Tomboy Road closure. A section of Tomboy Road above Telluride was washed out in August 2024. It has been closed to vehicular traffic since that storm. San Miguel County Government/Facebook The road to the Camp Bird Mine and the town of Gothic was built in 1879, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The mine and road were named after "the thieving Canada jays that were known to pilfered miners' lunches." The mine's gold lode was discovered in 1895. It soon became one of the state's top three gold mines. The mine, after decades of on-and-off production, was last closed in 1990. Camp Bird Road is known as one of the more dangerous backcountry roads in Colorado. Three people on a Jeep tour were killed in 2022 when the vehicle fell from the route and rolled to the bottom of the canyon.
CBS News
19-05-2025
- CBS News
Bear charges woman in Colorado alley, but CPW says it's unclear if woman's injuries were caused by the animal
A resident of southwestern Colorado was treated for injuries over the weekend after a bear charged her in an alley. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that while the woman was hurt, it's not clear from their officers' conversations with the woman whether or not "the bear ever made contact with her and directly caused the injuries." File photo of a black bear (Ursus americanus) Getty Images/iStockphoto The encounter with the female bear happened early Saturday morning in Ouray. The woman, a 49-year-old, was walking through the alley between the 500 block of Main Street and 4th Street. She was taken to the hospital after getting hurt. The bear had three cubs in the area, according to CPW. Wildlife officers tried to find the bear after responding to the area but they were unable to locate it. They are continuing to search for it and plan to "haze her away from the area" if it is spotted and acts in a problematic way when they are monitoring it. "The bear had been accessing trash in the area," said John Livingston, CPW Southwest Region Public Information Officer. The Ouray Police Department sent out a statement saying they are working with the CPW to try to encourage residents to secure their trash and their food so bears aren't able to get at it.
