Lower North Fork Fire & Prescribed Fire Review

Thanks Colorado National Guard!

That buckets looks so tiny from the air. This video gives a much better perspective as to size.

The National Guard video with the blackhawk in the air also gives a great perspective of the area. If I am not mistaken I am looking at Cathedral Spires and the video shows what has already burned and if you are familiar with the terrain in that area how close it was to Kuehster, So Ridge Rd and Pleasant Park.

I am amazed at the number of animals that were back in there. In the process of spending some time in there helping with the return of animals, I am stunned at the number of people who chose not to evacuate. Some with young children. I don't think many grasp how close the fire was to South Ridge Road and Pleasant Park.

The Hi Meadow fire when it exploded sent fingers of fire to Wandcrest, Pine and the other direction into the national forest where it jumped the North Fork of the South Platte and continued on through the forest because of the intensity of the winds and the fuel available.

Just look at the Pleasant Park corridor, Coffee Pot Hill, Maxwell Hills, Sampson with all the overgrowth.

I hope the Jeffco Sheriff's dept and the fire districts will spend some time working with dispatch to get things right, having an accurate reverse 911 and informing residents face to face or through our local newspapers how important it is for residents to leave.

The Lucas family did everything right, were well aware and still perished. My heartfelt sympathy for the Lucas and Appel families.

Hopefully the losses to our community will not be for naught.

akilina wrote: The National Guard video with the blackhawk in the air also gives a great perspective of the area. If I am not mistaken I am looking at Cathedral Spires and the video shows what has already burned and if you are familiar with the terrain in that area how close it was to Kuehster, So Ridge Rd and Pleasant Park.

I am amazed at the number of animals that were back in there. In the process of spending some time in there helping with the return of animals, I am stunned at the number of people who chose not to evacuate. Some with young children. I don't think many grasp how close the fire was to South Ridge Road and Pleasant Park.

The Hi Meadow fire when it exploded sent fingers of fire to Wandcrest, Pine and the other direction into the national forest where it jumped the North Fork of the South Platte and continued on through the forest because of the intensity of the winds and the fuel available.

Just look at the Pleasant Park corridor, Coffee Pot Hill, Maxwell Hills, Sampson with all the overgrowth.

I hope the Jeffco Sheriff's dept and the fire districts will spend some time working with dispatch to get things right, having an accurate reverse 911 and informing residents face to face or through our local newspapers how important it is for residents to leave.

The Lucas family did everything right, were well aware and still perished. My heartfelt sympathy for the Lucas and Appel families.

Hopefully the losses to our community will not be for naught.

What a wonderful voice of reason.

It is all very sad that people died, and based on the calls, it appeared they were well aware of the fire blowing up. We as people need to also take some personal responsibility regarding dangers such as this. Those of us who live in the forest need to be aware, and if you see a fire...be prepared to go, or just go. We don't need the govt. to make that call for us, we need to make that call ourselves. The govt's call for an evac should be an additional reminder, not the sole reason we leave. Long before we received the "pre-evac" notice, we were packed up, and keeping a close eye on the fire. With the power out, or the potential for it to go out, I would never wait for someone to tell me what to do.

Personal Responsibility - that's it!

How many people live on a slope or ridge? I recall Elk Creek fire commenting in a local newspaper about what a problem Conifer/Black Mtn is. Closer to home, people on Holmes Gulch Way in Jeffco, Holmes Gulch Rd, Hi Meadow and southeast Burland are sitting on a powderkeg living uphill and next to a national forest. People walk down from Crosson and have huge campfires on the North Fork of the South Platte River that can end up not thoroughly put out and unattended and the forest service doesn't bother to go in there and check. With all the growth up those ridges, fire will fly.

Use good judgement, take responsibility and leave if necessary.

For some....They were ill equipped to leave on their own.
I think your statement is true RenegadeC3, for the vast majority of us but there will always be a handful of folks who for whatever reason, cannot easily leave on their own.
Mrs Appel was a good example of a diminished capacity to leave her home on her own.
She was suffering from the effects of chemo. Her husband was not home. her car apparently had a flat tire.

Ann Appel called to report the fire and was told that crews were on the way.

DISPATCH: "Jefferson County 911, what are you reporting?"

ANN APPEL: "A fire."

DISPATCH: "Where at?"

APPEL: "It's down along Foxton, by the Platte River."

DISPATCH: "OK, they do have crews on the way down there."

APPEL: "OK. It's blowing smoke right over my house."

DISPATCH: "Yeah, it's about 5 acres and growing, so they've got crews on the way."

APPEL: "OK. Thank you."

DISPATCH: "You're welcome."

APPEL: "Bye."

I didn't get a sense listening to the audio or reading the transcript that the dispatcher imported any real sense of danger.

Not that it was the dispatchers fault, but what can we do better to help people like Mrs Appel?

I hope the Jeffco Sheriff's dept and the fire districts will spend some time working with dispatch to get things right, having an accurate reverse 911 and informing residents face to face or through our local newspapers how important it is for residents to leave.

Exactly!

If residents evacuate before or at least when told to, fire and law enforcement personnel can concentrate on the fire in the early stages, rather than using all available resources to assist with the evacuation.

IMO, the reverse 911 system should be primarily for those who are not currently in the affected area. Those in the area should be aware of the conditions and capable of deciding for themselves to leave early, and thus assist the fire fighters and law enforcement in handling the situation. Waiting until the last moment to evacuate will inevitably result in traffic problems, delaying/hampering the efforts of fire fighters and law enforcement personnel.

If you self evacuate early, what is the worst that can happen? You will experience some personal inconvenience, and expense, which might not have been necessary.

If you wait until told to evacuate, you contribute to the problem, and significantly increase your own personal inconvenience, as well as that of others.

Not that it was the dispatchers fault, but what can we do better to help people like Mrs Appel?

Good question.

One thing that would certainly help is for residents to check on their neighbors.

Another thing is for those who are fully capable of evacuating to do so early, to clear the roads and allow fire fighters and law enforcement to concentrate on those who do need help in evacuating.

Does anyone out there have the scanner frequencies for the Colorado State Forest Service? I have searched everywhere for them and cannot find them.

A shout out to Janet Shown. Is it time to revisit or re-establishing MCVOAD?