Thousands of residents in Aspen, Colorado, were left without heat for nearly zero degrees after vandals – possibly environmental activists from an environmental group – attacked the city’s gas system, authorities said Monday.
Apparently, the vandals attacked three separate gas lines from Black Hills Energy, one in Aspen and two in Pitkin County, and left about 3,500 residents shaking in their homes Saturday night, The Aspen Times reported.
The Aspen police department said the words “Earth first!” they were written in a pipe near Aspen. It is unclear whether the environmental group “Earth First!” he was behind the vandalism.
Aspen Assistant Chief of Police Bill Linn believes the vandals should be familiar with the gas system to end the scheme.
“They manipulated the flow lines,” Linn said. “They turned off the gas lines.”
Police struggled to distribute thousands of space heaters to residents as Black Hill Energy continued to work Tuesday to restore the gas.
Aspen is expected to reach a minimum of four negative degrees Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The FBI has intervened to help investigate the matter.