by Lisa Frank
Frontier Kitchen and Interiors located at 318 Main Street in Westcliffe was miraculously spared major damage when a huge, old Colorado Blue Spruce blew down during the 50-60 mph wind gusts we experienced Monday night.

The spruce belonged to the neighboring property owner and blew down during the night barely missing Layne Hovey and Grant Lewinsky’s 1899 building.
The tree managed to clip the propane tank causing a minor leak in the copper line which the Wet Mountain Fire Department deftly repaired. From there the big tree clipped the west roof line causing some damage to the roof and gutter, but incredibly it did not fall on top of the restored structure. Terry Knepper, who owns the property that the spruce grew on, quickly cut up and removed the gargantuan while Mr. Lewinsky cut and cleared the branches in front of his design store. A WMFD firefighter then suggested to Layne and Grant that it might be better if they weren’t there because a matching Blue Spruce located on their property was making threatening noises as the wind gusts continued to hammer town. Thankfully no one was hurt, the tree was removed, and the twin tree will be examined and perhaps removed. Also, the owners are grateful that their business is booming, and the treefall did not damage their beautifully restored historical home that houses Frontier Kitchen and Interiors. Additional wind is expected, and we can count on more of these 100-plus year-old trees coming down. The drought has not helped these old beauties, so be careful!