Crews cleanup fire-ravaged Royal Gorge park
Work crews at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park are cleaning up piles up debris and downed cables after a wildfire destroyed all but four buildings at the popular tourist destination.
John Lafferty, owner of Alpine Cable and Construction Company, oversaw the removal of the 2,200-foot aerial tramway that has transported millions of passengers across the gorge 1,178 feet above the Arkansas River since it began operation in 1969.
He tells The Canon City Daily Record “this story is finished when a new tram is running.”
The tramway cables over the gorge had fallen into the river after they were burned in the Royal Gorge Fire, which started June 11 and burned more than 3,000 acres. The fire, which was contained June 17, also destroyed 48 of the park’s 52 buildings.
