The temperature in Aspen, Colorado, will drop to 2 degrees on Tuesday night.
The FBI has joined a criminal investigation into what police say appears to be a “deliberate attack” on gas service lines in Aspen, Colorado, which has left thousands of residents and companies without heat as temperatures in the mecca of skis dropped to almost zero degrees.
Crews are working to restore gas service, and local authorities handed electric space heaters to residents still without heat on Tuesday, as a storm is expected to bring up to 8 inches of snow to the Rocky Mountains region this week. Temperatures are expected to drop to 2 degrees in Aspen on Tuesday night, according to the National Meteorological Service.
Aspen police said the allegedly coordinated acts of vandalism took place on Saturday night at three locations separated by Black Hills Energy gas lines, one in Aspen and two elsewhere in Pitkin County.
At one of the targeted sites, police said they found the words “Earth first” written on it, and investigators were looking at the self-description of the “radical ecological group” “Earth first!” was involved.
Emails from ABC News to the group’s website to request comments have not been returned.
Aspen Deputy Chief of Police Bill Linn told reporters that the saboteurs appeared to be “somewhat familiar” with the gas system.
“It simply came to our notice then. They shut off the gas pipelines, “Linn said.
Linn said the physical evidence recovered from the vandalism scenes included fingerprints left in the snow. He said there were no security cameras in the three locations that were hit.
The FBI, which has a critical infrastructure protection unit, is helping with the investigation, Linn said.
Black Hills Energy officials said about 3,500 customers were affected by the gas outage, and crews had to go to each gas meter to turn them off manually and turn on the pilot lights again. Officials said work continues on Tuesday, but it is unclear how long it will take for the gas service to be restored to all.
Linn said the police department distributes about 6,000 portable heaters to residents.
He added that many companies, including restaurants and hotels, had to close due to gas loss.
“It’s almost an act of terrorism for me,” Commissioner Patkin Clapper, who lost heat in her home to vandalism, told The Aspen Times. “It’s trying to destroy a mountain community at the height of the holiday season. It wasn’t a national gas issue. It was a deliberate act. Someone is looking to make a statement of some kind.”