JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. A man was hospitalized after his car crashed and caught fire near Lair O The Bear Park in Jefferson County on Monday afternoon.

The crash happened at 4:13 p.m. on Highway 74 near Lair O The Bear Park, west of Idledale, according to Colorado State Patrol (CSP). Troopers with CSP responded and found that a Mini Cooper had crashed off the highway.

According to their preliminary investigation, the 66-year-old driver had gone off the right shoulder, struck an upward embankment, got back on the road and rolled down an embankment off the left side of the road. It landed on its wheels and then caught fire, CSP said.

Initially, investigators believed the driver had been ejected, but CSP said they learned that witnesses had actually removed the driver from the car and performed CPR.

The driver was transported to a hospital for his serious injuries.

Anybody with information on this crash is asked to contact CSP Dispatch at 303-239-4501 reference case number 1A261397.

Lair o' the Bear Park closed while first responders worked around the scene. The park reopened around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Jefferson County Public Schools parents are demanding answers after learning school district leaders received a third-party safety audit flagging 153 imminent threats including a hit list with 15 names a month before the shooting at Evergreen High School, but never released it to the public.

The audit was conducted by student safety firm Gaggle, which was given access to the district's Google Workspace, including Google Drive and email accounts belonging to students, from February to April 2025. In the report, the company said it looked for questionable content, such as cyberbullying and graphic or sexual stories, as well as imminent threats, including references to self-harm, violence, and domestic abuse.

Denver7's Maggie Bryan talks with concerned parents who called for transparency at Monday's school board meeting and presses the school for answers

In the report given to the school district last August, Gaggle said it found 153 imminent threats, including multiple references to suicidal ideation, ongoing self-harm, domestic abuse and potential acts of violence towards others.

Among the findings: a file containing the words "Hit List" in large font with a list of around 15 names, which the company said it assumed were names of other students.

Read the report:

Lindsay Datko, a parent of three Jeffco Public Schools students and the executive director of Jeffco Kids First, said she received a copy of the safety audit last week through a public records request to the school district.

"The safety audit was extremely concerning," Datko said. "It seems that students are crying out for help in different ways, and it needs to be firmly addressed."

Heather Gunsallus, a spokesperson for Gaggle, said what the audit found in Jeffco Public Schools was "serious and warranted prompt attention." She said according to the companys data, school districts comparable in size to Jeffco average about 67 imminent threats over a 10-week period. Jeffco more than doubled that average, with 153 flagged threats.

Parent Jeremy Garst said he questions whether the school district did enough to protect students before a shooter opened fire at Evergreen High School eight months ago.

On Sept. 10, 2025, an Evergreen High School student shot two of his classmates before turning the gun on himself. The motive for the shooting remains unknown, but we know the FBI was investigating the social media accounts connected to the 16-year-old boy two months before the attack. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said a day after the shooting the teen had been "radicalized."

"Was he flagged in this report? Was he mentioned in this report?" questioned Garst. "Did they coordinate and bring parents in the loop when a student was suicidal or expressed, you know, an intent to harm other students? What was the process? Were these parents brought into that conversation, or were they kept in the dark too?"

In an emailed statement to Denver7, a spokesperson for Jeffco Public Schools said school district staff reviewed the Gaggle report and found the vast majority of information was "already known through safety systems and reporting pathways." The spokesperson said any new information was "appropriately followed up on."

Full statement from Jeffco Public Schools:

Garst and other parents called for transparency from district leadership at Monday night's school board meeting, questioning why the district did not release the report to the community before a records request.

"The audit just skims the surface. I think it shows there's an issue," Datko said. "I think it's up to the district to find out how that's going to be resolved and to communicate that very clearly to the community."

A Lakewood dance and arts studio that offers affordable space to artists, dancers and community groups is asking for help to keep its doors open.

Move Dance Space & Arts Center owner Alicia Karczewski launched a GoFundMe with a goal of $65,000. Thats enough to cover two years of property taxes and building insurance.

I just knew that my goal was to support lifelong movers, and that would be an older community that may have trouble finding dance classes, et cetera, Karczewski said.

The studio rents affordable space to a wide range of artists and groups, including ballet, martial arts, yoga and improvisation theater. Karczewski also works with nonprofits, providing them studio space for free.

What we really support are people that want to keep doing their thing, she said.

But keeping prices low has made it difficult to keep up with the costs of owning the building.

I am finding that it's really challenging right now to be a proprietor of a building, Karczewski said. With property taxes and building insurance, those things are so much bigger than what we do here financially.

Launching the fundraiser was not an easy decision.

It was really hard for me to do because my generation is older and were really independent, she said, laughing. But I thought, you know what? Im not doing this for me. Im really doing this for everyone that holds space here.

Among the classes offered is intermediate tap dance one of the few options for adult tap dancers in the area.

For people who have danced their whole lives, you really cant get good, advanced, or intermediate tap anywhere, unless you drive half an hour at least, Sandy Goldhaber, a student at the class, said.

For many, the studio is far more than a place to take a class.

I do a lot of things, Marry Mittag-Miller, another student, said. But this is by far the best thing that keeps me going and keeps me happy.

Tap instructor Tina Miller said losing the studio would leave a void that would be hard to fill.

A piece of your heart, really, Miller said. Thats going to be missing if it goes away.

You can check out the GoFundMe here if you would like more information or if you would like to donate.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Businesses that offer tubing and kayaking on Clear Creek in Golden are watching water levels closely as the city enters Stage 1 Drought restrictions and the creek is running at 55% of its typical streamflow for this time of year.

Beth Battilla, owner of Adventure West, said the tubing company may start its tubing operations as early as Memorial Day instead of late June. She said the company may also shorten its float route depending on conditions.

"We suspect we might just change our float a little bit. You know, we might have a recommended area that people just do over and over and over, rather than a full float," Battilla said. "I think we're going to see an earlier season, and I think we're going to be open for a much wider variety of swimming abilities and age groups from the get go, just because of the much lower flow rate."

Clear Creek is running at 63.7 cubic feet per second as of Saturday, compared to 115 cubic feet per second at the same time last year, according to Snoflo.

"In the past, it's not really dropped below 75 or 80, even in the late, late summer, early fall, and that's been runnable. Right now, it's a little bit below that," Battilla said.

She's hoping a wetter-than-average monsoon season could provide some relief this summer. Denver7 Meteorologist Stacey Donaldson said because of the dramatic snowpack deficit, the monsoon season could help, but will likely not be enough to replenish the water supply.

"I don't know that it's going to be a drought breaker," Donaldson said. "And if it is, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. If it's a lot of rain, we could see flooding. Because we already have the dry ground and it can't absorb a lot, then that could be trouble as well," Donaldson said.

For now, outdoor enthusiasts are making the most of what's available.

"Definitely a little bit of low water today, a little lower than we'd like," one kayaker said. "I mean, maybe not quite as fun, not as much features to play in and stuff, but I mean, from a water safety standpoint, I guess it's actually a little bit safer, you know, without high flows and stuff."

Theres no question it's been an unusual winter.

This week, state officials estimated that Colorado could see 1,000-2,000 more fires this year than we typically see.

Evergreen and Clear Creek County officials are doing what they can to make sure residents are prepared. Saturday, more than a thousand residents in four neighborhoods in northern Evergreen signed up to be a part of a wildfire evacuation drill the first drill for these neighborhoods.

WATCH: Denver7's Lauren Lennon talked with officials and residents during the drill

The four neighborhoods included Beaver Brook, Echo Hills, Evergreen West and Raven Ridge.

A wildfire evacuation drill is a way to build muscle memory and reduce the freak-out factor for residents of neighborhoods so they know better how to react and then evacuate if their neighborhood is threatened by a wildfire or a chemical leak or any other emergency for that matter, Evergreen Fire Rescue spokesperson Einar Jensen said.

Jensen said these four neighborhoods reached out to officials and they have been working together for the past six months so residents could build up their go kits, register for the areas emergency alert system, and put all the skills to good use and simulate an emergency.

With the abnormal winter setting up for what will likely be a heightened wildfire season, Jensen said it's especially important to make sure communities are prepared this year.

All its going to take is a few more hot, windy, dry days, and those wildfire conditions are going to ripen right up, he said.

We all have responsibility to prepare for wildfire and the conditions of our non-winter. Its a perfect time for us to deliver on that for our communities, so that all of us can be safer, Jensen added.

Residents emphasized this preparation exercise was a success and much needed.

We live in an area called Evergreen West, and our danger is extremely high, Colleen Skates, a Witter Gulch resident and participant of the evacuation drill, said.

It's really good to have a plan in place and to be ready and prepared for if we do have to evacuate, she added.

From the passenger seat, Jeffrey Skates shared his concerns on the lack of exit routes in their neighborhood.

We have really one route out of here, actually two routes, either into Evergreen or up this way, over 103, but a lot of areas only have one egress, he explained.

He added that only having these two routes was scary.

Thats the only way we get out of there, Skates said.

If we have ahead of time ... how to evac and how to get out of where we live ahead of time, it'll be a lot more efficient that way, he said, sharing his appreciation for the coordinated effort for the drill.

Another participant echoed his sentiments, adding that in her neighborhood, she also faces the same issue of only having one exit route.

If that road was on fire, we have no way out, the participant said.

Raquel Woods, another participant Denver7 was able to catch up with, said the drill gives you an idea of the timing and what it's going to be like trying to get out of the neighborhood, especially this route, because it's the only route out.

Beaver Brook resident Ben Forbes said he has lived in the area for 25 years and that this was his and his familys first evacuation drill.

He added that the drill gave him and his family the confidence they needed in the event of an actual emergency.

I feel that if this happens for real, I will know what to do. I'll be able to keep calm and, you know, gather the stuff we need and go without having any major things forgotten or missed, he said.

He too voiced the concern of limited exit routes.

We have one road. It has two exits, so we can go either, you know, up the hill or down the hill, depending on which direction is closer to the fire. But there is one road, and that is it for, you know, several thousand residents up there, he explained.

Forbes described the drill as a positive experience that helped him and his wife set up plans that work best for them if they ever do have to evacuate.

Evergreen's fire chief also stressed how important it is to be signed up for emergency alerts.

It's vital. This is your, this is your notification of event and of an event that you need to be aware of, said Evergreen Fire Chief Mike Weege.

Forbes, who was already signed up for emergency alerts, agreed.

There is no reason not to. There's no excuse, Forbes said.

Jensen says that only 20% of people in the Evergreen Fire Protection District have signed up for their alerts, Lookout Alert, which he described as disheartening.

The time for sticking our head in the sand and saying, Oh I didnt know about it,' thats over. We all must take accountability and take those few steps to register for these systems, he said.

Lookout Alert was what was used during Saturdays drill to send residents a pre-evacuation notification around 9:30 a.m,, and then an evacuation warning around 10 a.m.

Officials said once they evaluate how useful this drill was and where they can improve, they will carry out the drill with other neighborhoods.

Chief Weege said one of the goals of the drill for officials was to identify any choke points and identify where they may need traffic control.

If you are not signed up for emergency alerts, here's where you can sign up: