Forest Fires

[rancar]

Hayman fire in Colorado now regarded to be the worst in Colorado's history....potentially one of the most devastating in the nation's history if Colorado doesn't see rain soon. See attached link. And this is just the beginning of the fire season....worst will come in July and August.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E673452%257E,00.html>http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E673452%257E,00.html</A>

The men and women fighting these fires are heros fighting an enemy that has little regard for life or property. Unfortunately, it didn't have to be this way.

TBNer Jim Youtz wrote an excellent article which he posted in "HOW WET IS IT" discussion thread. Remedy solution he cites would go a long way to minimizing these forest fires.

 

[rdln]

I was perusing through the fire pictures yesterday and came on this and was reminded of all the wildlife and thier habitat being lost. Colorado is great elk country.Packing up</font color=red>

I hope they catch the firestarter.

 

[hosejockey2002]

I think at least one of the big Colorado fires was started by an underground coal vein that has been smoldering for years. People always seem to assume that the catastrophic forest fires are human caused. At least half of the big fires we have here in Washington state are caused by lightning. When Smokey said "only YOU can prevent forest fires", I think he really meant "only GOD can prevent forest fires" I think Colorado right now is at the mercy of Mother Nature.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Fire is about 7 miles away from the house now. Really spooky at night looking out at the glowing embers stretching all the way across the hozion. Slurry bombers/helos are going by at my altitude (C-130s, P2V Neptunes, DC-7, B-24, P3 Orions, Sea King and Sky crane helos + Beech Baron spotter planes).

Currently winds are 5-10 mph out of the east. More men and equipment are arriving daily. The fire does not seemed to have spread much over the last 2 days, but that is just shear luck. The winds haven't been very high during that time. The forest is so dry that even the trees have a very low moisture content. I'll have to remember this when I try and get a green log to burn during the winter. The fire is so hot at times that it causes the tree sap to boil inside the tree before the fire ever reaches the tree.

We are on standy evacuation. We have been that we since Monday. Our escape route still looks very clear.

Get those houshold inventories done now!! Include date of purchase, item description, and purchase price.
Get an evacuation list started now. Have 1 list for 15 minutes evacuation, 1 list for 1 hour evacuation, and 1 list for 1 day evacuation. Read up on your insurance policies to see what a total loss would do to you financially. Don't wait for somehting like this to spur you to adjust your policy. My understanding is that insurance companies are not taking new customers (understandable) and not allowing policy changes to current customers.

Got to go find a safe place for Zeus.

Certainly, there are many folks much worse off than we are at the moment.



These firefighters are doing everyting that they can, but we really need rain without a gust front or lightning!!!

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color=blue>"Get those houshold inventories done now!! Include date of purchase, item description, and purchase price.
Get an evacuation list started now. Have 1 list for 15 minutes evacuation, 1 list for 1 hour evacuation, and 1 list for 1 day evacuation. Read up on your insurance policies to see what a total loss would do to you financially. Don't wait for somehting like this to spur you to adjust your policy. My understanding is that insurance companies are not taking new customers (understandable) and not allowing policy changes to current customers."</font color=blue>

Great advice. I'll add a couple things here. Keep that inventory OFF SITE. Take pictures and store them one place and the negatives another. Additionally, take negatives of all those irreplaceable pictures and put them in a safe deposit box somewhere. If you don't have the negatives, either have some made (it can now be done) or make duplicates of those photos and put those away). If you can afford it, put them in a fireproof box inside a safe deposit box at your bank (takes a larger safe deposit box). When it's all said and done, those are the things you can't replace. All of the other things money will cover.

Good luck to you and all your neighbors. Keep us posted, please.

 

[rancar]

My thoughts and prayers are with you RockyMnt1 and with those of your neighbors. I lived in Utah for 3 years. While I never saw the front lines fellow classmates who were in my forestry program did. I still remember the stories they would tell. This is a real dangerous enemy....can change direction at a moment's notice and overwhelm one even when you think you're out of harm's way.

Stay well, stay safe, take no chances and keep us posted if you can.

Regards,
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

 

[rancar]

Attached link is today's (6/15/02) update on the Hayman fire...things getting a bit better but not out of the woods yet.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020615/D7K5G2201.html>http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020615/D7K5G2201.html</A>

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Today the winds are calm and the visibility is good (15 miles). The fire lines seem to be smoldering rather than raging. There are still hotspots along the fire flank, but these seem fairly localized. Last night I saw much less evidence of tree crowning/flaring. The fire seemed to be advancing slowly along the ground. Afternoon t-storms (complete with hail) have been forming over the fire area so that has helped increase the moisture content slightly. The lightning in these storms doesn't help.

There is a chance of strong winds in the next few days. That should be the real test. It is very likely that those winds will whip the fire up again, but at least now the resources are already in place to deal with it.

The following Website offers great info concerning the fire in Teller Co (Southern end of the fire):

http://www.co.teller.co.us/

http://www.9News.com offers more Denver related info on the fire.

Thanks much for your thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated. More later when I know it.

Still on standby evacuation status.

 

[heehaw]

have you heard the news that the fire was started by a forest service employee?? according to what i heard on the news, they had admitted to it, and were burning some personal papers, while they were suppose to be out in camp grounds etc enforcing the state burn ban?? sure hope this turns out to be another newsmedia foul up..
heehaw

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>heard the news that the fire was started by a forest service employee</font color=blue>

Just read that in The Dallas Morning News a few minutes ago.