Some move to rural Colorado because they want to disconnect, but when the wind starts blowing like it did Tuesday, and trees spark on power lines , those same people probably still want to reach first responders like Lefthand Fire Chief Chris O'Brien.

A tree sparked with a power line in Estes Park during high winds. CBS

With a spotty cell signal in the Boulder County mountains, many rely on the phone company Lumen for landline coverage. But when the power goes out, O'Brien says so do the phone lines.

"They've got no way to communicate out if they're in the case of an emergency, whether it's 911, fire or medical problem," O'Brien went on to say, "Any sort of backup power that they [Lumen] can provide, like generators, we expect them to do that, because technically, we're not allowe

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