Twin castles remain intact
ANTONITO
“Tell them a part of the dump failed on him.”
CANO Espinosa was standing in front of his home, shovel in hand, talking to neighbors about the fire that caused heavy damage to his personal dwelling early Thursday morning in Antonito.
It was around midnight that he first heard what sounded like wood cracking, thought it was his cat making noises, got his flashlight to take a look around, determined it wasn’t the cat and went back to bed.
“Then I started hearing cracking again. I got up and looked out the window and it was like red.” This time he said he thought maybe an airplane had crashed into his house on the north end of town.
“Then I looked at the kitchen and it was red.” That pushed him outside to discover the back of his home engulfed in flames.
“This was my studio, all the extras from the castle,” he said Thursday morning as he surveyed the damage.
Cano Espinosa
The queen and king survived, but the rook took a hit
Cano as he’s known to locals has made the twin “castles” that sit on his property his life’s work. The structures made out of junk material – a lot of it tin –- have become a local landmark for the community and pull curious people off Highway 285 through Antonito to take a look.
When word of the fire spread, the concern was for Cano and the castles he had built. Once neighbors like Mike Jiron found Cano safe, the fight began to save the castles from being damaged.
“We determined it was the chimney,” Cano said of the cause of the fire.
He calls the twin castles the queen and king, and his dwelling where he stores other materials, the rook. “I’m the pawn,” he said. By mid-day the pawn was plotting how he was going to keep working on the castles while he figures out his own dwelling.
If you’d like to support Cano during this time, reach out to his friend and neighbor Mike Jiron at 719-480-4348. Text messages as well as phone calls can be received. You can also donate with Gofundme.
