All of the king’s horses and men responded to a four-acre Bear Canyon forest fire in the foothills on Monday, and the massive response worked.
The quick reaction staved off fears that all of Pikes Peak would be turned to cinders as the nation tuned in to watch the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at The Broadmoor. It’s charming and exotic when a bear is caught on video walking across the fairway, as occurred during the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, but a forest fire is not the sort of publicity anyone seeks, especially as television crews swarm the area.
Three fire crews, from the U.S. Forest Service, El Paso County and the Colorado Springs Fire Department, were called in, assisted by repeated aerial bombardments from two helicopters and two slurry bombers. It was a big-time multi-tiered government response, considering it was such a tiny fire.
