Mountain lodge explosion injures 14

Paonia, Colo. A fiery explosion rocked a remote mountain lodge in Colorado on Saturday, injuring at least 14 people, authorities said.

Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee could not immediately confirm what caused the midafternoon blast. He did not know how many people had been staying at the lodge in the Gunnison National Forest.

Because the lodge is isolated by heavy snow in the winter, helicopters were taking injured people off the mountain while crews on the ground used specialized vehicles equipped with tracks to ferry emergency medical teams to the site. Six people were taken to a hospital in Grand Junction.

Delta County Memorial Hospital was caring for eight patients and preparing to receive more.

“The problem is, we’re a long ways away from where it happened. It’s been real difficult to get communications set up,” hospital administrator Tom Mingen said.

Authorities consider arson charges in wildfire

Longmont, Colo. Authorities are investigating whether Forest Service workers can be charged with arson for a 900-acre wildfire that was ignited after gusty winds carried flaming cow dung outside a controlled burn site.

Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck said he received several complaints from farmers and ranchers in the Pawnee National Grassland area, where the Forest Service was conducting a controlled burn of prairie weeds March 11.

Callers complained the fire shouldn’t have been set because of high winds, and that the fire endangered farm property.

The sheriff’s office this week agreed to investigate. District Ranger Steve Currey said Forest Service officials also are investigating.

Currey said the Forest Service will have to replace 14 power poles and a fence damaged in the fire.

Wolf attack injures worker at wildlife park

Phoenix A handler at a wildlife park suffered major injuries to her arms and legs after two wolves attacked her inside an exhibit, authorities said.

Heather Mueller, 34, lost a significant amount of blood but was in stable condition Friday after undergoing surgery at a Phoenix hospital.

Mueller was attacked around noon Thursday inside a large, enclosed habitat area at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Camp Verde, about 70 miles north of Phoenix. North American gray wolves had recently been released in the habitat area, which has not yet been opened to the public, officials said.

Both wolves have been quarantined as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Yavapai County authorities investigate the attack.

Park spokeswoman Nadia Caillou said it’s extremely rare for wolves to attack people because their natural instinct is to run from humans.

Officials try to trap bear that killed miniature horse

Andover, N.J. Wildlife officials set a trap, baited with bacon and molasses, in hopes of catching a bear Friday that killed a miniature horse and dragged its carcass away.

“No other animal would have the strength to do that kind of harm,” said Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection.

The owner found the miniature horse’s body Thursday at her farm in Sussex County in northern New Jersey. The 15-year-old horse, named Phantom, suffered a broken neck and was dragged through two electric fences and up a hill. The horse weighed at least 250 pounds.

Teens accused of kidnapping boy for $50 ransom

Fort Myers, Fla. Three teenagers kidnapped a 15-year-old and ordered his father to drop off a $50 ransom at a Taco Bell restaurant, authorities said. The father called police instead, and the teens were arrested.

Police said the dispute began over $50 that David Gibbs, 15, owed to Joseph Garrett, 17. Gibbs went to Garrett’s apartment Tuesday, and Garrett asked him to repay the money, police said. Gibbs couldn’t pay up, so Garrett and two other teens punched him in the face and held him at knifepoint, then forced him to phone his father and ask him to drop the money in a planter at the Taco Bell, police said.

Ralph Gibbs called police, who set up undercover officers at the restaurant. Two people who took the cash told police that Garrett had paid them $10 for the deed, and they agreed to call Garrett to arrange a meeting at a Goodwill store.

Police who went there found 16-year-old Samuel Aidoo standing by a trash bin and found he was carrying a knife. Garrett, who was at his nearby apartment with the son, saw the officers and fled, police said. The son then left the apartment.

Aidoo, 16, and Victoria Aidoo, 15, were arrested Wednesday. Garrett turned himself in the next day.