F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

Waldo Canyon Fire

The Black Forest Fire, Colorado

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The Black Forest Fire, started Tuesday, June 11th, just NNE of Colorado Springs, Colorado has now become the most destructive fire in Colorado history. And this in less than a year from the Waldo Canyon Fire (started June 23, 2012). Currently 473 homes have burned in the Black Forest Fire, which has grown to 15,700 acres and forced 38,000+ people from their homes. Over a thousand emergency responders are involved, including military aircraft (Chinooks, Blackhawks, C-130s, the first ever DC-10, etc.; see here for aerial footage). As of last night, with the rains that fell over the area aiding in the firefighting effort, the fire is estimated as 30% contained, with an estimated containment date of June 20th. Two people have been confirmed to have died from this fire, having been trapped in their garage. What these numbers fail to gauge is the emotional toll on all who’ve lost something to this fire. It’s utterly tragic, but so heartwarming to see so many in the community reaching out and helping. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.

As of last night, the Royal Gorge Fire is 65% contained, at 3,218 acres. The famous bridge is still standing but still needs to be inspected.

There are additional fires in Colorado. See this link.

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Waldo Canyon Fire Revisited

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This video was created by videographer, Renette Saba-Jones. who had been contracted by the US Forest Service to document wildfires for use in training and education. Renette captured footage of the Waldo Canyon Fire after it made its run into Colorado Springs, Colorado and soon destroyed the West Side Mountain Shadows Community. She later put out a call for anyone who had any photos or video, so she could compile the completed video above. She did an outstanding job. I was surprised at the emotion that still welled up in me, the tears, as I watched this video (for a couple days we were on pre-evac notice, had both our vehicles packed up and ready to immediately leave…but never had to). On that fateful day when the fire burned up and over Queen’s Canyon from the 65 mph winds, myself and some other neighbors stood at the end of a street, watching it, and later, we had burned out debris drifting into our yard as large as 6 – 8 inches. No embers, just burned out debris. Our neighborhood was undamaged.

Here is a link to this video and some smaller clips.

The Waldo Canyon Fire raged from June 23 – July 10, 2012, and cost 346 homes and 2 lives.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined, though it was determined to have been human caused.

Rebuilding is well underway in Mountain Shadows, which is so nice to see, and the foothills burn areas had been mulched the end of last year…but there is still great concern for possible flooding this year.

Thank you, Renette, for all your excellent work on this video, and for sending this our way. And again, thank you to all who had been involved in fighting this fire. You have our undying gratitude.

InciWeb link

Waldofire.org link

Links from my posts on the fire:

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Days 1 and 2.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 3.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 4.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 5.

Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 6

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Today is a good day.

That was the feeling of everyone fighting this fire, early this morning, and it bore itself out as containment was upped to 15%.

Yesterday’s advancement of the fire was greatly reduced, as can be seen on the wildfire map. No additional structures have been lost overnight. The Unified Command Team were extremely encouraged and looking forward to a great day, and it looked like they finally got just such a day. Some evacs were lifted, but the really big news was that the Unified Command finally addressed the amount of homes lost (346) and convened at 8 p.m. tonight to directly begin handling people and their losses.

As of this morning, there are in excess of 2000 people involved in fighting this fire.

As of this morning, 18,500 acres have been burned.

The fire is considered 15% contained.

To date (this morning), it has cost $3.2 million to fight this fire.

For non-emergency legal questions or spotting any other Colorado wildfires, call 800/332-6736.

Queen’s Canyon, Day 6

For our neighborhood, it looks like the fire has moved away from us, though I’m sure there will continue to be spot fires and we are still in pre-evac mode. I was recording this series of posts to document the event in our neighborhood and also using it as a way to keep those concerned for our safety informed. And I do have an interest in wildfire fighting. My dad was a forest ranger, and at one point I was interested in becoming one–and had even helped do a “mop up” in one fire when I was a teenager, on Panther Mountain, in upstate NY. Other interests and directions ended up taking over, but being a forest ranger and even a wildland firefighter have always interested me. But, the fire remains an active fire, and Woodland Park, Colorado is still in line-of-sight the advancing northwest component of the blaze, though firefighter efforts are holding strong, last I heard/read. If anything else impacts our neighborhood I’ll post, but for now, this should be my last post on the fire, from our neighborhood’s perspective. Our hearts go out to all who lost homes. Of note, the individual I mentioned on Day 4, who actually felt the flames as she drove out of Mountain Shadows–their home is intact and not included in the street list of homes that were damaged.

So the fire is far from over, but thank you, again, to all involved in fighting this fire, and thanks to all who offered their homes and their help if we needed it.

Disclaimer: any “distance” claims I made are totally subject to error. Perspectives are odd that way, so when I say “1-2” miles, it could be double, I just don’t know, am estimating, and asking others who’ve lived in the area longer. When and if I get a topo map, I’ll check it out.

KKTV Wildfire Map.

KKTV link.

KKTV fire update link.

KRDO Link.

View Active Burn Perimeter (KRDO.com).

Link to Home or Business Damage Notification.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Days 1 and 2.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 3.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 4.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 5.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire Video Compilation.

Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 4

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I’m writing this on Day 5, and actually have some free time, but we are on a pre-evacuation notice, which means be ready to split in 30 minutes or so. We currently have developing storms that may or may not impact the fire. We’d need 3/4 to an inch of rain. One cell coming over Pikes Peak is hoping to be one with more rain to impact the burn.

Yesterday, day 4 of the fire, was a hugely impacting day, where the blaze tripled in size, fired up and over Queen’s Canyon, and down into Colorado Springs, where all hell broke loose.

I–along with a handful of others–watched the fire from our neighborhood streets, as it burned down Queen’s Canyon eastern slope. There were near blackout conditions from the smoke as well as from the burn out that caused the total evac of Mountain Shadows, which included those we know. I was told by one of them that she actually felt the heat of the wildfire as she was evacuating her home. From our home, I stood outside watched as flames burned down the eastern slope of Queen’s Canyon, not far from Mountain Shadows. Tons of smoke, and throughout the evening, as I continually checked our property for falling embers, I found enough charred debris (found a burned aspen leaf) falling that I turned on the sprinklers and hosed down our fences and other areas I thought needed it. Later, at night, choppers with bright spots cut down through the heavily smoky air and made several low passes around the mesa east of us.

What had happened was that a storm northwest of the fire headed into the blaze, while strong winds from the south-east and south-west all pummeled the fire at the same time. The storm north of the blaze let loose 65-mph outflow winds that, combined with the southern winds, forced the fire east, and into Mountain Shadows and adjacent  areas. Officials said that it didn’t matter how many resources would have been positioned, the fire storm was simply too powerful and was flat-out unstoppable. There is still no definitive assessment of the amount of lost homes, but the video is heartbreaking.

KKTV link.

KKTV fire update link.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Days 1 and 2.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 3.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 5.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire – Day 6.

Click here for Waldo Canyon Fire Video Compilation.