Colorado Extreme fire danger

We went through this up here in BC last year (and 2003, 2009), and can relate.

It didn’t directly effect me last year other than when the bush was closed down, but 2009 we were evacuated for several days while the hill above home burned. Many others had different stories last year.

Here, many years of fire supression has lead to a huge build-up of fuel, add the pine beetles killing large amounts of pine trees, and a hot dry summer = bad news. It boggles my mind that they are so resistant to the idea of controlled burns when conditions are less volatile in some of these areas.

Hang in there and stay safe!

 

I’ve heard a week of -40, you’d think that would kill ANYTHING! Either way, the cold we had sure didn’t kill them here, they ran their course and killed huge swaths of trees. A lot they tried to log while the timber was still marketable, but the amount of dead, dry wood left is still mind boggling. Fire is part of natures way of “healing” and regrowing, but it sucks when homes and livelyhoods are taken with it.

I never complain about rain like I used to. When we finally got rain after breathing heavy smoke all last summer, I stood out in it until I was soaked, and loved it. So far the summer here has been perfect. A few warm days, then rain again. Hope you get some there soon, without lightning of course.

 

Well it’s nice to think that some rain is coming, but our storms always have lightning. There have been two new spark ups this afternoon. This one is closer to our house but not too close to worry. The Lake Christine fire is pretty well under control for now but wind makes the calls. Thankfully it’s not in the county I work for, yet.
Any of us that spend time in the backcountry have seen the huge amount of deadfall, standing dead, and gross amounts of stuff that needs to burn! I wish state and local and private’s would get on board and do the work for prescribed burns when it’s safe. The ski resorts especially need to burn. Bad. The feds have done a few in our region but not enough. Let the rich investment owners and public complain, use these fires close to town as an example as to why we need to burn, safely.

 

I know as kid growing up 8n SC, they did controlled burns all of the time.
Even when I used to work for Westvaco, we always pre cut fire brakes and fire ditches.
I came out here and they dont do that. I kind of understand on one hand you have the wind, and cutting fire breaks and fire ditches is harder because of the terrain. I still think it could be done. Hell me and my dad created a fair sized green line around his property up in Teller county. We even spent the better part of a month getting rid of deadfall, dead trees and under brush. So I know it can be done! Every April we repeat the process.

 

I agree with ya TJ, I have used the threat in the past of turning their ass' into the rangers if they didn't knock off whatever illegal behavior they were pursuing. I told myself I would stop at the ranger's house on the way out of the area and report em if they kept that $^%%$&^ fire going.