Lower North Fork Fire & Prescribed Fire Review

My opinion of what happened with the Lower North Fork Fire was COMPLACENCY across the board.

I believe that there is lots more to be learned here, and I hope that we will learn from it, rather than being consumed by a desire to place blame.

I have not seen anything that would indicate that there was any malicious intent involved, or negligence. Lack of knowledge, lack of experience, perhaps.

What I have seen so far is a number of people trying their best to do their jobs in the best way they knew how.

That mistakes were made is obvious, in hindsight.

I agree with Becky that complacency played a significant part.

We cannot reverse what happened.

We can try to learn from it, to try to prevent it from happening again, or at least mitigate the effects the next time.

There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a next time.

It is up to us whether we learn from this, and become better prepared, or just try to blame everyone but ourselves the next time.

I hope that we will all try our best to learn from this tragic incident, and do our best to prevent it from happening again, so that it will not be repeated, and continue to raise awareness in our community.

I welcome any suggestions regarding how to do more to help the community in the future.

INPUT on last nite's meeting with the officials?........anyone care to share their impressions of the meeting?

My impressions of how this fire was handled.

The CSFS was complacent in how and when they did a controlled burn in an urban interface.
No....they did not patrol on the Sunday before the fire but would it have mattered? The answer to that is something we will never know.
They should have placed for urgency on the upcoming weather forecast.
The weather was certainly not the norm and was extreme. I m unclear that anyone could have predicted.
Is that CSFS fault?
I believe they were complacent out there the day this fire started in believing that they could handle the situation which clearly they could not.
Mother nature is an amazing thing. According to the Jeffco report.....this fire was running at 160-200 per min. That is just really hard to grasp.
The dispatchers?
Well, they sit in a room 25 miles away from this fire. They can only draw information from what they are hearing from callers. We have all listened to many of those calls. My feeling is that even those who called in were somewhat complacent about what they were seeing and hearing. Dispatch was fielding calls for 5 different fires at the time of this fire. They were handling multiple fire agencies and sending a lot of people to different locations. They are human beings who are vulnerable to information overload....just as all of us are.
Reverse 911?
It should be tested often. Our lives up here depend on it. As tax payers....we should be demanding that our elected officials make plans, train for them and test them on a regular basis. That's why they have a job. has anyone looked into what your county is doing to maintain emergency management policies?
The heroes here are the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and the firefighter boots on the ground who risked their lives to try and save others. My heartfelt thanks to all of you who performed so bravely under such horribly adverse conditions.
Who holds the blame in all of this?
Homeagain said it early on.......we all do.
The CSFC was complacent.
Jeffco was complacent.
Citizens were complacent.
10 years almost to the day, have gone by since the Hayman fire.
I see a lot of "it won't happen to us" mentality out there.
This could happen to any of us. Are you prepared?
Will you wait for the government to help you or will; you take steps in advance to help yourself and your neighbor become better prepared.
I believe that prescribed burns are a useful tool to maintain forest health and keep us safer. Do we need some special plans in place when they are done in an urban interface? Absolutely.
I personally believe that we should also look at alternatives to burns in certain situations.
As for chipping? Guess what was so dangerous in this fire? A bunch of chipped material laying on the ground that smoldered and burned from deep within.
There are no easy answers here. We must all take some responsibility and plan and prepare.

Off to work.

I left another group of heroes out of my post above that deserve all of our deepest thanks.

The volunteers who saved our pets, helped evacuees before and after this fire.

You guys are the best our community has and I salute you.

Ahhhhh, but Jeffco Sheriff and the Colorado State Forest Service are held to a higher standard of care. Can't blame the citizens for following what the 911 dispatch was telling them. Jeffco dispatch contributed to their complacency.

Yes there is blame and it helps to blame and get things in perspective so that people can take action and sue the pants off those in a position of trust. By the reports Jeffsco Sheriff and CSFS are trying to cover their behinds and nothing more. They don't give a damn about the people injured or damaged. As is evidenced by Jeffco Sheriff not including the reverse 911 snafu in their report. Criminal. The more spin they put on this, the more the people are going to grab them by the nuts and make them cry uncle.

I would really like to see the tape of the meeting last night. I am sure all the mouthpieces were in place telling everyone how sorry they are and how they are there for the people. Same chapter and verse until the next time.

Do not underestimate the power of the people in Conifer. When they feel they have been wronged they will do something about it. Please let me know what the name of your fund is to bring justice and I will be willing to contribute to it. Thanks.

I have been reading the firewise.org website. Excellent material on Firewise Guide to Landscape and Construction.

http://www.firewise.org/Information/Who ... uction.pdf

mtntrekker wrote: I have been reading the firewise.org website. Excellent material on Firewise Guide to Landscape and Construction.

http://www.firewise.org/Information/Who ... uction.pdf

It is an outstanding program. Holler mtntrekker if there is anything I can do to help out. I suck on a chainsaw but i have a strong back!

Read today's Northforkashes blogspot. I think he summarizes last night's meeting very well. Criminal negligence. Count me in to help.

http://northforkashes.blogspot.com/

Hickenlooper and Jeffco Commissioners should require a citizen review board for all state government and local government travesties. No one trusts anything the bureaucrats have to say.