ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office says enough is enough following five abandoned missile silo rescues in two years — including two in just a matter of days.
"There are a lot of urban explorers that are on social media, and the more that they publicize going through these missile silos and these abandoned buildings, the more kids want to do it," said Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Ginger Delgado.
As a result, the Sable Altura Fire District will now charge a $5,000 fee per person for any rescue conducted inside one of Arapahoe County's abandoned missile silos.
The district conducted two rescue missions at a silo near the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds this month — the first on July 8 and again on July 14.
Division Chief Tara Monks of Sable Altura Fire Rescue said crews are plunging into the unknown during those missions.
"We send them over the edge, 50, 60 feet down. Communication is limited," Monks said. "Radios don't work, so we're going into places we can't talk to each other."
Inside the silos, expect to encounter cave-like darkness, twisted metal, standing water, and other deadly hazards — including potential exposure to carbon monoxide and radon gas.
"We don't know what the long-term health effects of victims or ourselves could be," said Sable Altura Fire Chief Rich Solomon.
► Watch Adria Iraheta's report in the video below:
Missile silos were built throughout Colorado during the Cold War to house intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and ensure they could withstand a nuclear first strike, allowing for a retaliatory launch.
The CDPHE said it has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and clean the complexes, some of which have elevated levels of PCBs.
Solomon said the situation is reaching a breaking point.
"It's not always in and out. Somebody is getting hurt, and somebody's going to die," he said.
A near-fatal fall that still haunts first responders
A teenage boy nearly died after entering a silo near Deer Trail and plummeting 30 feet down a two-story shaft in 2024. Crews also rescued the victim's friends from inside the tunnels. They appeared to be unharmed.
"The kid that we pulled out is probably lucky to be alive," Deer Trail Fire Chief Rich Loveless said.
Solomon described that rescue as the most dangerous his team had ever conducted.
"I don't even, I don't want to go back in there," Solomon told Denver7 during the rescue.
Both fire chiefs say the memory still weighs on them.
"We had no communication with each other once we got 15, 20 feet inside of the facility. So, on the command side sitting out, not knowing what condition [my rescuers are] in — it's very stressful," Loveless said.
Solomon said he had long hesitated to speak publicly about the rescues, fearing it would inspire copycat missions — but the recent surge left him no choice.
"The recent spate of these [has] been significant, and especially the danger it puts rescuers in – that we have to say something."
Locks, concrete slabs, and barbed wire — nothing is working
Property owners in Arapahoe County have done everything in their power to prevent entry by urban explorers, Solomon said, but efforts to seal off access points have not been enough to stop trespassers.
"The property owners that I've spoken to, and [that] Chief Loveless has spoken to, in these instances, have done everything they possibly can. I don't know what part of a lock says don't come in," Solomon said.
The abandoned silo near the Fairgrounds, for example, is sealed with a concrete slab — surrounded by barbed wire fencing and no trespassing signs.
"This is not just one hole; it's not just one potential entry point. And I think landowners do everything possible and spend tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to exactly do that," Solomon continued.
Denver7 reached out to Waste Management, which manages that site. While the company could not comment on the specific case, a spokesperson provided this statement: "We remain committed to operating our sites responsibly and to the safety of everyone in the communities where we work."
After the 2024 Deer Trail silo rescue, the property owner told Denver7 that he intended to press charges, which he said he has done in the past. His father bought the property sometime after the silo was decommissioned in the 60s. He said it's been "a headache" to own ever since.
A $5,000 fee and a plea: 'Just please stop'
The repeated rescues are taxing local agencies. When an 18-year-old woman became trapped in the silo on July 8, Sable Altura Fire had to request assistance from South Metro Fire Rescue — since most of its technical rescue team had already been deployed to the Gold Mountain Fire in Gunnison County.
"We've had to have other agencies help cover our jurisdiction while we're while we're out on these type of calls," Solomon said.
The rescues are also placing a burden on smaller agencies with limited funds.. Technical rescue equipment, for instance, is costly to purchase and maintain.
An increase in patrols in the area has led to discovery of evidence pointing to multiple recent entries into the abandoned silos, according to Sable Altura Fire.
Those discoveries offer a clue into how easily people can become trapped inside.
In one case, we found a rope ladder that was held together with duct tape," Solomon said, "I'm not sure what's spurring all this on, but it really, really, it just really needs to stop."
The new $5,000 per-person fee is intended to deter people from entering the silos and put a stop to the problem. If not, Solomon fears the worst:
"This will continue to be to where we're doing recoveries."
"We hope to God that we don't have a death someday. It could happen," Delgado added, "I think the message is just, just please stop."
Deer Trail Fire Rescue is also considering implementing a similar fee, according to their fire chief.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said it has issued 2nd degree criminal trespassing citations to everyone rescued at the silos this month.
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