Black Forest fire in Colorado consumes 360 homes

[Nintendesert]

Did you see the video I posted? That homeowner did great fire mitigation to protect his property.

As for the 'slow response,' I, too, saw the smoke around 1330. Fire department scanners were already lit up with first responders moving on the fire, and people starting to evacuate the area.

Not sure if you were in the area for Waldo Canyon last year, but we had air assets dropping thousands of gallons of slurry on the fire to keep it from entering Queen's Canyon. It made no difference whatsoever. The fire blew right through all of those air drops and tore into the city. You cannot always control mother nature.

Yeah, you can't control mother nature however you can control bad decisions that don't route the needed assets to where they are most needed. There was a priorities problem with the big slurry planes dropping on the gorge instead of the black forest. How much it could have helped isn't known, different terrain in the black forest makes for different circumstances to last year's fire. You still have to make the right decisions when you hold positions like that in the state.

The ramp up was slow, if you follow the new briefs by the EPC sheriff when he gave briefings on how many firefighters etc. were on scene it took too long to get enough people in there. It shouldn't take a fire hitting 7,000 acres before you start calling in more firefighters.

Anyone with half a brain knew any fires in that area were going to get ugly and get ugly fast. Like I said, fire trucks rolling into the general direction of the fire 2 hours after it started is just way too late for something like this.

It's not the firefighters, but decision makers that just don't appreciate how bad this stuff gets and how fast it does.

I did watch your video, I wish I had saved some of the pictures from KOAA and the Gazette that had pictures of people's houses burning and some of them with just tons of deadwood and crap piled up around them and near the house. No kidding it burnt...

 

[EagleKeeper]

I have a layered defense for our place around the Baily area
No deadwood/dried fuel for 150 meters
Cleared for 50+ meters from the structures.

 

[Gooberlx2]

For a little uplifting news, one family saved several of their neighbors' dogs.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/1gcgpf/i_busted_down_your_fence_and_saved_your_dogs/

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/pet/3869198540.html

 

[Hoober]

I have a layered defense for our place around the Baily area
No deadwood/dried fuel for 150 meters
Cleared for 50+ meters from the structures.

I don't know if people are just lazy, or if they just don't believe it's ever going to happen. I don't believe a completely defensible structure would have saved every house in Black Forest, simply because the fire moved so fast and burned so hot, but it certainly saved some.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I don't know if people are just lazy, or if they just don't believe it's ever going to happen. I don't believe a completely defensible structure would have saved every house in Black Forest, simply because the fire moved so fast and burned so hot, but it certainly saved some.

Just like a hurricane. If you get hit dead on, not much you can do if it is a Cat 4,5.

However, the more advance prep you do, the lessor damage..

There are 8 55 gallon drum of water along the perimeter, 4 in close to the house and one on a trip structure for the drive (last resort to get out of area safely).

Some think a canyon will stop a front. It can if there is no fuel along the canyon walls and not dry brush along tbe ridge.

It takes a lot of work to clean firebreaks and maintain them.

 

[drebo]

I think we need to ban fire. It's the only logical course of action.

#banfire

 

[PricklyPete]

Hate to see this beautiful state burn. I realize that fires are a natural occurrence around here, but not at the rate we are having them. Really wish people were more careful.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Hate to see this beautiful state burn. I realize that fires are a natural occurrence around here, but not at the rate we are having them. Really wish people were more careful.

I dunno about the rates of fires, but the severity and damage has been extreme. In part it's because of things like drought and all the beetle killed trees. Another large part is that people move into these densely forested areas, which then can't be allowed to burn naturally or have controlled burns. There's so much excess fuel that these fires become unmanageable and devastating.