OURAY COUNTY, Sept. 18, 6:57 a.m. – A fire at the Galloping Goose Café and Bakery on Friday afternoon in Ridgway was the first of many calls the Ouray County EMS was paged for over the weekend.

Despite no injuries reported during the three-alarm fire that caused extensive damage to the icon eatery, six accidents occurred within roughly a 16-hour period on Friday and Saturday, which included two serious in nature on Friday evening and four more on Saturday afternoon.

Two New Mexico men en route to Grand Junction got a busy Friday night started as Andrew Hayes of Sandia Park lost control of his Ford pickup near mile marker 81 around 10 p.m. close to the top of Red Mountain Pass on US Hwy. 550, rolling it approximately 60 feet over the edge, according to a Colorado State Patrol report. Hayes and his passenger, Eric James, escaped injury as they were both wearing seatbelts. Excessive speed played a factor in the crash, according to the CSP report, which also noted that charges of reckless driving are pending against Hayes.

Shortly after crews cleared the accident on Red Mountain, the Ridgway Ambulance was paged to a one-vehicle accident at Peck’s corner on Hwy. 550 near mile marker 97, three miles north of Ouray. A 29-year-old man from Ouray lost control of his northbound Chevy pick up attempting to miss a deer, causing the vehicle to cross the southbound lane and skid off the road, rolling into the Uncompahgre River. The driver, who was wearing his seatbelt, was transported to Montrose Memorial Hospital. The truck received extensive damage. According to the CSP, charges of careless driving and Driving Under the Influence are pending.

On Saturday morning, emergency crews were paged to a one-vehicle rollover north of Ouray, while the Ridgway Ambulance was sent to a two-car, head-on accident on Hwy. 550 near mile marker 113, nine miles north of Ridgway. Another accident occurred at that scene from heavy traffic and drivers not paying attention, according to Ouray County Sheriff Dominic Mattivi. One individual was transported to Montrose Memorial from the second accident at mile marker 113.5.

Also on Saturday at around 2:30 p.m., the Mountain Rescue Team and the Ouray Ambulance were paged to a report of an all-terrain vehicle rollover with injuries on the Ouray County side of Imogene Pass.

“We got really busy and it started with the fire at the Galloping Goose,” said Steve Lance, OCEMS medic and training officer. “At about the time we cleared from that, there were two separate accidents that we responded to. Those did result in transport of patients.”

Despite the accidents happening while personnel were still on scene, or had just cleared a scene, Lance said the EMS performed well.

“We were fortunate in the sense the timing was such we didn’t have all resources allocated at once,” he said. “The crews worked hard and didn’t get a lot of rest. Fortunately, most of the staff was available and in town. We were able to put it all together.”

Mattivi complimented the EMS resources.

“They were spread really thin. Fortunately the two on Friday were far enough apart time-wise that we could cover them properly,” he said.