Waldo Containment Improves

The latest news this morning is that Waldo is:
Size: 17827 acres
Containment: 55%

Almost all evacuations have been lifted. There are areas near Rampart Reservoir and, of course, the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, that remain evacuated. See the InciWeb for details.

Fire Progression Map

The areas added on June 29 & 30 are either in-burns (burning unburned fuels in the middle of the burned area) or containment back-burns (see purple area on the edge) to improve the containment line.

Status Map Showing Containment (Black) Lines

New Day Dawns - Evacuations Lifted!

Dawn of a New Day

Dawn from western Teller County looking toward the Waldo Fire area

Evacuations Lifted!!!
Great news on the Waldo front!!

Evacuations for Teller County residents were lifted yesterday at 4:00pm!

El Paso County residents (Cascade, Green Mountain Falls and Chipita Park) are being allowed on US Hwy 24 as of 9:00am today!

Highway 24 will be open as of 1:00pm today!!

Waldo Stats (as of 30 June 2012 evening)
Size: 17659 acres
Containment: 45%
Deaths: 2
Homes Lost: 346

Waldo Fire Map - 1 July 2012

Still not "out"

Waldo is far from "out". The fire must first be contained and then controlled. It is still less than 50% contained. The northern edge is still open.

Today is a red flag day - let's hope we get through it without a break to the north.

Fire will continue to burn unbvurnt fuel inside the containment lines until all fuel is spent. Areas in the interior will continue to smolder until the rains come in August or the snows come in October. We will be living with some smoke and ash for a bit longer...



President Obama Tours Colorado Springs Neighborhoods

The Pres came to town today. The Air Force One flight was coordinated with fire attack so that fire attack flights were not interrupted, according to Rich Harvey, Incident Commander.

Denver Channel 7 has some good video.

Aside from a short conversation with some fire fighters in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, it did not appear hat any active fire fighters were distracted from their duties during the visit.

Red Dawn

The sun dawns red over western Teller County, 17 miles from the western Flank of the Waldo fire.

Sad News
We now know that the Waldo Fire has destroyed 346 homes and at least one life. No identification has been released. The popular assumption is that it is a resident of the house on Rosmere Street where the remains were found. Another resident of that house is unaccounted for. The Gazette quoted Colorado Springs Police Chief Steve Carey as saying that there were fewer than 10 people unaccounted for. The death toll may rise.

Aerial photos of the destruction in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood are available from two sources:
Denver Post
John Wark

The professionals (fire and police) are continuing the process of checking for any more remains and checking remianing structures for structural damage (safety). Damaged structures may not be sound and may not be safe for occupancy.

All firefighters are accounted for and no injuries have been reported among their ranks.

Better News
On the firefighting front, news from yesterday was good. Weather cooperated and containment rose to 15%. The size has been adjusted to 16,750 acres based on the latest infrared mapping. The un-shaded outlined area is the new growth.

Some Evacuees are Allowed to Return
According to my unscientific estimation, about half of the areas in Colorado Springs that were evacuated on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning have been allowed to return home as of 8pm last night. They remain (wisely so) on pre-evac standby status - be ready to get out again on short notice. The Air Force Academy living areas that were evacuated have been allowed to return this morning.

The latest Colorado Springs (not including El Paso County, teller County or the AFA) evacuation info is posted on the Colorado Springs website. Link to today's Colorado Springs city evac map

Evacuations in Teller County Unchanged
The evacuation maps for Teller County, including Woodland Park, remain unchanged.

Bombing Waldo

This is impressive video from inside one of the MAFFs flights over Waldo:




Beautifully coordinated work like this is as much a work of art as a fine symphony orchestra...cue the strings as they fly off to Pete Field....and a little applause...

Waldo Pushes at Teller County

Wednesday, Colorado Springs was just beginning to assess the damage. No serious injuries had been reported, no loss of human life. It is known that the Flying W Ranch was lost, but the complete extent of the damage to homes and businesses has not been reported. House-by-house and street-by-street assessments were underway.

As of yesterday evening, the Waldo Fire had not yet entered Teller County proper, but it caused quite a stir.

Evacuation of  Part of Teller County

At 12:13pm, 27 June 2012, Teller County & Woodland Park officials ordered the evacuation of the eastern portion of Teller County, including the eastern portion of Woodland Park. This was because the fire had picked up Wednesday morning and was entering Sand Canyon above US Hwy 24 east of Woodland Park.

The fire still has not crossed US Hwy 24 at any point.

Human Shelter locations

• Summit Elementary, Divide, CO
• Cripple Creek-Victor High School, Cripple Creek, CO

Animal Shelter Locations

• Teller County Fairgrounds (on County Rd 1), Cripple Creek, CO

We were in Woodland Park picking up innoculations for our horse and got these photos of the fire over Rampart Range from the east side of Woodland Park:

Chester & Baldwin looking south east

Aspen Valley Way and US Hwy 24 looking east

New Teller County Pre-Evacuation Notice Issued

At about 4pm, Teller County published a new pre-evacuation notice for residents that includes the rest of Woodland Park, all residents north of Woodland Park to the Douglas County line and all neighborhoods north os US Hwy 24 west to Co Rd 25 (Tranquil Acres/Mocks).

Community Meeting

The usual 7 pm community meeting at the Summit Elementary School in Divide was well attended by officials and residents. Sheriff Mike Ensminger, Commander Les Lewis (Teller County Evac Coordinator), Woodland Park Mayor David Turley, Woodland Park City Manager David Buttery all spoke about what the county and city were doing. Waldo Fire Incident Commander Rich Harvey was on hand and provided a detailed explanation of what was going on in each of the fire fighting divisions as well as the plans for Thursday.

Rich Harvey briefs the Teller County and Ute Pass residents on the Waldo Fire at Summit Elementary in Divide, CO

Rich Harvey is clearly a guy who knows his job and knows fire behavior. He's a quiet spoken fellow and very comfortable with his team's ability to fight this fire. He took almost an hour and a half with us and did not seem in the least bit anxious to get back - clearly a leader who is confident that his team will handle whatever needs to be handled on the line and his time could be spent answering questions.

This Ain't Our First Rodeo

These folks were attentive, polite and appreciative. They know these fires are not put out in a day and that the fire fighters on the line and in the air are 200% focused on getting the fire contained and controlled. These are Hayman vets.

We clapped when the gains were announced and laughed when Rich screwed up place names. He begged us to rename Ramparnt Range Road to Rampart Ridge so he'd get it right. He and Mike Ensminger were vieing with each other to see who could remember to repeat the questions asked by the audience. I think Rich came out slightly ahead. We are Hayman vets.

Mike Ensminger mentioned that the evac team got the area cleared in about 2 1/2 hours. No issues, no squaking, no hysteria. A few people decided to stay, as is their right, but that was all handled by everyone with politeness and professionalism. Names and addresses recorded and the evacuators moved on. We are Hayman vets.

We would no more resettle somewhere else because there are wildfires here than those of us who have lived on the Gulf Coast would relocate because of hurricanes. It comes with the territory. Most of us will get out of the way when a force of nature larger than ourselves barrels down on us like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but we won't leave permanently.

This ain't our first rodeo. Just another bull to ride.

Nasty Waldo burns Colorado Springs

Waldo took a run at Queens Canyon this afternoon. We saw the first blow up from our porch (20 miles to the west) at about 12:30pm:

At about 5:00pm, the fire crossed through Queens Canyon and crested the ridge above the western-most Colorado Springs neighborhoods: Mountain Shadows and Peregrine. Mountain Shadows and Peregrine are being evacuated. Everyone west of IH-25 and north of Vindicator is now under mandatory evacuation. Fire bosses are on the radio telling their dozer crews to "punch out and get to safe ground at the quarry".

The fire swept through Queens Canyon, over the eastern edge and roared down into the Moujntain Shadow and PEregrine neighborhoods in about an hour. In short order the evacuation of Mountain Shadows and Peregrine was accomplished. As the magnitude of the firestorm was realized, more neighborhoods were evacuated in both Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy. The images were horrific. The Gov. Hickenlooper flew in Tuesday night and reported that northwest Colorado Springs looked like a scene from disaster movie.

You can find lots of images and video here from the scene in Colorado Springs:
The Gazette
KOAA-TV

From the Four Mile area (25 miles away) it looked like this as the firestorm was entering Colorado Springs:

Waldo has grown - 5165 acres

Morning has dawned bright and clear here on the west side of Teller County.

The small Teller and Park County fires from yesterday are history and law enforcement is still looking for possible arson suspects up her in Teller County.

Yesterday afternoon the Waldo Fire blew up and ran to the northwest, adding about 600 ac to its size. The size this morning according to the Gazette is 5165 ac. One small structure, described as a "tent platform", was lost at the Eagle Lake Campground. No homes have been lost. No serious injuries and no loss of human life.

One extension is roughly along Rampart Range road which runs along the Rampart Ridge above Ute Pass to the north. The fire appears to be reaching out towards Rampart Reservoir. The line is to the wets of Palmer Reservoir.

Another extension is due north towards Queens Canyon. According to reports it has still not crossed (west to east) over the top down into Queens Canyon. The eastern rim of Queens Canyon is the ridge directly above the Mountain Shadows neighborhood.

Winds will be out of the south and southeast again today, according to the weather prognosticators. Smoke is visible from western Teller County, but still not yet blowing our way.

Trail Creek Fire, Lake George, CO

There were actually three separate fires that started north of Lake George. Circumstances are suspicious, evidence is being coletcde and a federal investigator has been requested by the Forst Service chief.

Resources, ground and air, are being diverted from the Springer Fire. The Teller County Wildland Task Force (one engine from each Teller County fire deprtment) is responding to Lake George to assist.

Update 20120625 1219

There are actually four fires. The first three will be called Trail Creek 1, 2 and 3 and are in Park County. The fourth one is called the Crystal Fire. All are along Trial Creek Rd north out of Lake George. All fires have personnel on scene. There is a fire supression 'copter above the fire with water as well. At this time, it appears they have a good handle on all of these.

More Fires on the Western Edge of Teller County

Forest Service and Lake George VFD are responding to a fire at the shooting range just north of Lake George. The Florissant VFD is responding as well. Black smoke has been sighted. Forces are close and hopefully they can get on top of this one quickly.

Legal T12S, R71W, Sec 29

11:28am - The Teller County Wildland Fire Taskforce has been put on standby alert at their home stations.

USFS chief is reporting a second start  1/10th mile from the initial start. Lake George VFD is jumping on that. The helicopter assigned to the Springer Fire is in the air over the fire.

Sunrise...

...and no smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire.

It's not out, not by a long shot! The official Waldo Canyon Fire InciWeb site reports 3600 ac, 0% containment. 450 personnel are working the fire.

Manitou Springs lifted its evac order as of 8pm last night, but all the other communities are still evacuated. Current list here.

The Type 1 Incident Management Crew arrived yesterday and will transition on to the Waldo Canyon fire today. Heavy C130 aircraft will come onto the fire today. They have been building a fire retardant mixing station at Peterson Airforce Base in Colorado Springs to support them. They can carry at least twices the retardant as the other "heavy" tankers that have been working the fire so far. Reports say they will be over the fire this afternoon.

The winds calmed last night and we have no smoke (yet) over Four Mile today:


Dawn over Four Mile

We'll see what the winds bring us, and the fire, today.

Where's Waldo? Can't see the smoke for the smoke

Yesterday, as the pictures showed, we could clearly see the Waldo Fire smoke plume. Today, with the winds out of the east, we are covered in smoke and can barely see Pikes Peak:

The air quality is terrible. Almost as bad as it was at the worst of the Hayman Fire when the wind blew from the north.

Since the winds are blowing up Ute pass from Colorado Springs towards Teller County and Woodland Park, all of the eastern part of Teller County, the east of Woodland Park to Rampart Range Road and the portion of Teller County immediately to the south of Woodland Park (bordered by US Hwy 24 on the east and US Hwy 24 on the west - commonly called the Edlow Rd area) have been put on pre-evacuation alert.

View at Noon Today from Woodland Park

View east from Woodland Park Wal-Mart

View east from Woodland Park Safeway

Waldo Canyon Burning - 2000 acres

The fire fighting heroes were transitioning into mop-up operations on the Springer Fire Saturday morning. The Type II Incident Management team was preparing to leave and some of the team members were returning to Colorado Springs.

When Waldo Canyon erupted. Literally. Within an hour after the fire had been reported it was over 100 acres and by nightfall, the fire had grown to 2000 ac. Waldo Canyon is on Rampart Range between Colorado Springs and Woodland Park. This morning, all communities along the US Hwy 24 corridor in western El Paso County (Cascade, Chipita Park, Green Mountain Falls) are either evacuated or being evacuated. Manitou Springs and Crystal park above Manitou Springs is evacuated. Neighborhoods along the western edge of Colorado Springs west of 30th St. are evacuated.

Evacuees are moving to either the Woodland Park High School (Woodland Park, west of the fire) or Cheyenne Mtn High School (east and south of the fire).

The Gazette has a good chronology of the fire

Interests in eastern Teller County are not yet actively threatened, but are definitely on high alert. The Teller County Sheriff is briefing Teller County Fire Departments at 9:00am this morning.

Yesterday, shortly after the alarm was sounded, we were able to see a plume of whte smoke over Pikes Peak from our home in western Teller County (20 miles form the fire).

Waldo Canyon Fire as Seen From Hayden Park, Divide, Colorado

The fire had been buring 2 hrs 45 min

Waldo Canyon Fire as Seen from Gold Hill Shopping Center, Woodland Park, CO

The fire had been burning for 3 hrs, 20 min

Waldo Canyon Fire as Seen from Teller County Road 1

The fire had been burning for six hours

Springer Fire 87% Contained; Everyone Returns Home

Springer Fire Containment Almost Complete; People Return Home

As of Friday, 22 Jun 2012, all the evacuees from the path of the Springer Fire were allowed to return home. On Saturday, 22 Jun 2012, the fire command reported the fire was 87% contained. Life in Four Mile, on that front, is returning to normal. No serious iunjuries, no loss of human life, no structures lost. The Eleven Mile Canyon Recreation Area (from the Eleven Mile Dam to Lake George) remains closed and Boy Scount Camp Alexander  (the entrance is in the Eleven Mile Canyon) remains closed.

Teller County remains at a Stage II Fire Ban

Arsonist in Teller County!!

Since Monday, at least thirteen fires have ignited in Teller County, most of them in the Divide and Woodland Park areas. This can only be described as the work of one or more serial arsonists. Due to the vigilnce of citizens, these fires have been quickly repoirted and quickly extinguished. Not much information is available:
KRDO Ch. 13
KOAA Ch. 5
KKTV Ch. 11
The Colorado Springs Gazette - the man mentioned in this story was questioned and released
The Ute Pass Courier-View
A reward fund has been established for information leading to the conviction of the person(s) responsible for these fires.

These acts are beyond irresponsible. This is a series of delibrate acts that are endangering the lives of thousands of people. They are acts of violence against the collective citizens of Teller County, Colorado and the United States. These fires burn both private and community (aka federal, state, county) lands. These lands belong to individual citizens and the collective citizenry. While we may squabble amongst ourselves about the best use of our community lands (our commons), I think we all agree we DO NOT WANT THEM BURNED!

Springer Fire Cause - Humans

The latest post on the Springer Fire InciWeb confirms that the fire was caused by humans, not natural causes (e.g., lightening):

"The fire has been determined to be human caused and may be related to recreational shooting. US Forest Service, Park County Sheriff, FBI and ATF are working collaboratively to investigate the cause of the fire. A special tip line has been set up for any information relating to the investigation at 719-836-4117" 

"related to recreational shooting"...what the heck?

I've been a recreational shooter for years and served as a 4H Shooting Sports leader (with proper training and certification). Recreational shooting is shooting at proper targets with a proper backstop using proper safety equipment and following proper safety practices. Everybody has fun and everybody (including the plants and beasties of the forest) stay safe.

Shooting that causes explosions and fires is something else:

• a darker purpose such as testing the destructive capability or killing power of a weapon
• arson
• the result of deficient thinking ("Gee, I didn't think that would happen!")

We do not require people to have a driver's license to purchase a car, but we do require that they have one to drive and we do require they carry liability insurance to compensate others if the driver's actions cause another person harm. We do not require people have training (as evidenced, for example, by a test and a license) to purchase firearms or use firearms, in deference to the sacred Second Amendment. We do not require they carry liability insurance in the event a person's use of a firearm causes another person harm. I find this a little odd as it appears to me that different standards are being applied to a person's use of a potentially harmful device in society.

Springer Fire Danger to Four Mile & Teller County Reduced

Yesterday, the Teller County Sheriff's Office announced that due to the great work by fire crews at keeping the Springer Fire north of the Platte River, they were closing their Incident Command Center. This means they will no longer have officers and other emergency personnel stationed at an Incident Command Center in Divide, but will continue with their normal duties. This means the TCSO believes that the possibility of evacuating Teller County residents from their homes is not as high as it had been.

Of course, the TCSO and others are still available, they will still closely monitor the fire behavior and progress and will provide assistance to the people and animals who have evacuated from homes in Park and Teller Counties.

The smoke plume was barely visible from Four Mile yesterday, so my observations support what the officials are saying - the men and women out there on the ground and in the air had two very good days. Hats off and thank you very much!

Today brings cooler temperatures to Park and Teller Counties and the Four Mile community that sits at the border. However, that cold front is also bringing some increased wind. Temperatures are due to rise by Thursday or Friday to the extremes we saw last weekend. The weather forecasters believe there is some chance of precipitation next week.

So it looks like the gun is de-cocked, but it's still loaded. We'll keep a very watchful eye to the west until we get some good rains to really put this thing out.

The latest info:

• InciWeb - USFS Incident Information System - very useful "home" page for info, including links to other official web sites
• Maps
• Teller County Sheriff's Office
• Lake George Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) - temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and much more from a station at the USFS Work Center in Lake George, CO, located less than five miles from the fire. This data is collected by many agencies and published on several website:
• RAWS Climate Archive (includes most recent hourly data)
• ROMAN
• Weather Near Fires - Springer Fire - this is a compendium of weather data from multiple automated weather stations in the "vicinity" of the Springer Fire. The distance and direction of the weather station from the Springer Fire is given in the "Dist/Dir" column
• University of Utah MesoWest (offline on 6/20/12 for system maintenance)

Aspen Village Fire Contained

This one is being fought by crews from several Teller County volunteer fire departments and some USFS crews borrowed from the Springer Fire. Its 2-3 acres in size and is on both private and National Forest. The fire is reported as contained. Initially two SEAT (Single Engine Air Tanker) planes were dispatched, but were cancelled after the first ground units arrived and determined that ground crews could handle the situation.

There are no evacuations ordered. The Aspen Village subdivision off Teller CR 51 north of Divide, CO, is the only residential area impacted.

This was a very fast, tightly coordinated response by all the Teller County volunteer fire departments and federal and state forest fire crews. No egos, just a no nonsense, "get it done" attitude on the part of everyone.

New Fire in Teller County - Aspen Village Drive, Divide, CO

As I am writing this, Teller County Fire Departments are responding as the Teller County Wildland Fire Task Force to the vicinty of Aspen Village Drive north of Divide, CO (15 mi east of the Springer fire in Teller County). The initial responders are reporting a large column of dense smoke.
USFS crews from the Springer Fire are also responding.

This is a residential area and there are three structures that are threatened.

Springer Fire Update - 970 acres, No Containment

The size of the Springer Fire was revised a few hours ago after an aerial GPS survey was completed this morning.

Size is now 970 acres. Last night, based on preliminary ground surveys, they had it pegged at between 400-500 acres. I don't know if the fire really grew or if this is the result of better measurements. Probably some of each.

As of the 4:00pm USFS briefing, there is no containment.

A couple of hours ago, the spotter plane providing control services for the air attack above the Springer Fire, detected a new fire, about 5 miles away from the Springer Fire. It is located just east of the Eleven Mile Reservoir Dam. Of course, both helitack and ground crews were immediately dispatched to deal with this one. Only a tenth of an acre in size, the crews made short work of this one.

What it looks like from the Four Mile area in western Teller County

The plume today was not as dense as yesterday, but seen from the road in front of our ranch, this looks ominous:

Teller CR 1 between MM 9 and MM 10 looking northwest

So my spotters and I climbed the hill behind the house:

And we saw:

The fire is about 10 miles from this vantage point.

Springer Fire Update - 18 June 2012

The wind is out of the southwest this morning, so the Four Mile area is not in the direct path this morning.

Teller County has a new advisory out:

• Standby evacuations still in effect for
• Sanborn Ranch
• Wilson Lakes Estates
• Forest Glenn Sports Association
• Blue Mountain Estates.
• Prepare for Possible Pre-Evacuation Notice:
• West Florissant Heights
• Indian Creek
• Valley High Subdivisions
• areas west of Wildhorn Rd and CR 31
• Primary evacuation shelter is Summit Elementary in Divide, CO
• Secondary evacuation shelter is at the Woodland Park High School, Woodland Park, CO

Springer Fire Threatens Four Mile

Oh no, not again...

It has been over ten years since the Hayman Fire and in that time we have not had a fire that seriously threatened the Four Mile community.

Until yesterday.

Springer Fire details

Yesterday the Springer Fire erupted in the area east of Eleven Mile Reservoir. The exact location is 38.945 latitude, -105.436 longitude. The fire grew yesterday to 450 acres and the south/east edge is at the South Platte River. The fire crossed the river yesterday, but was beaten back. The FS is reporting zero containment. The official USFS incident status page is here.

I was enroute to Denver yesterday to get to the Greek Festival and could see the growing smoke from Colorado Springs, Monument and Castle Rock! Based on the info sent to me by Teller County on my cell phone via Nixle, I turned around at Castle Rock (darn! No baklava!!) and headed home.

This is what the fire looked like yesterday:

Spinger Fire seen from US 24 between Divide & Florissant, CO, 4:54pm, 6/17/2012

Springer Fire seen from Florissant, Colorado, "city limits". 4:58pm, 6/17/2012

Springer Fire from Lake George, CO. Post office parking lot. 5:10pm, 6/17/2012

Springer Fire from Teller/Park county line on US Hwy 24. 5:16pm, 6/17/2012

When the fire crossed the Platte River yesterday, that triggered the evacuations of several subdivisions and homes in the area of Wilson Lakes Estates, Forest Glenn Sports Association, and Blue Mountain Estates. The Sanborn Ranch residents and camp guests evacuated voluntarily.

As the fires south of the Platte were quickly extinguished, Teller County changed the orders to "Standby" for those areas and allowed residents to return to their homes.

Evacuation Shelter for people: Woodland Park High School, Woodland Park, CO

Evacuation Shelter for animals: Teller County Fairgrounds, Cripple Creek, CO

(see the map at the bottom of this page)