Lower North Fork Fire & Prescribed Fire Review

I was especially impressed by the intent to sue over the the lost freezer meat.

What I see is a huge disconnect between what the authorities are saying and what the residents want/need to hear.

What exactly is the disconnect you perceive between the community and the authorities? Could you explain your thoughts on that statement.

SC, I am not sure I understand your post.

What I see is a huge disconnect between what the authorities are saying and what the residents want/need to hear.

Surely you are not saying that the authorities should make something up in order to make the residents feel better? Are you implying that the authorities are covering something up? IMO, what the residents need to hear is the true facts regarding the origin and handling of the Lower North Fork Fire, by all parties involved.

When the first press releases and reports seem to emphasize the natural events (high wind, heat, dryness, etc) that caused this fire to get out of control, rather than focusing on the human error that ultimately created it and allowed the natural causes the opportunity to make this so much worse, I wonder at those in charge and/or who dealt with it that they are so out of touch with their community.

I assume that you are referring to the Prescribed Burn Review and the report on the origin of the Lower North Fork Fire, and the Town Meeting.

I have read the Prescribed Burn Review, and I am unaware of any significant inaccuracies in it. If you know of any, please forward that information to the review team, and also post the information so that others may be aware.

I have read only Part 1 of the report on the origin of the Lower North Fork Fire. Perhaps by not studying the remaining 5 parts I am missing something of importance? Could you give me a clue as to which part(s) that might be in? I was under the impression that most of that had already been covered in the Prescribed Burn Review.

I have so far reviewed only Chief McLaughlin's part of the Town Meeting, and have posted my comments at <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href=" 285bound.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=210973#p210973 " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?p=210973#p210973<!-- l --> .

I would really like to know what you believe the "...human error that ultimately created it and allowed the natural causes the opportunity to make this so much worse..." was.

http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=264092

Lawsuits expected against state for Lower North Fork Fire
The notice claims that "the negligent and/or willful and wanton planning, initiation, conduct, oversight, and attempted termination of the prescribed burn resulted in the reignition of the burn ... That reignition resulted in a catastrophic wildfire."

And here it is, with more to come.

You don't want to mess with Conifer people. They will and do take action.

That will get CSFS to pay attention in the future. Sad that is the way it has to be. But hey, they brought it on themselves.

blah blah blah ...Old news!

Yes but it shows specifically what they are alleging. I rest my case.

You have no case.

Science Chic wrote: I can't remember if these were posted here earlier, but they are wonderful first-hand accounts of dealing with the aftermath. I'm very glad that they've shared their experiences and thoughts with the world.
http://northforkashes.blogspot.com/
http://kristenmoeller.blogspot.com/2012 ... clean.html
Edit to add: akilina beat me to the punch on the 1st!

I've spoken with a few residents who live/lived on Khuester Rd as well, first at the Recognition Potluck Dinner at the Park, and now after this meeting, and just wanted to add my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

What I see is a huge disconnect between what the authorities are saying and what the residents want/need to hear. Yes, fire mitigation is very important, but it was done above and beyond by some of these residents and it didn't matter anyway - and they understand that it won't save them every time. Had this been a naturally-caused fire, much of this discussion wouldn't even be occurring. When the first press releases and reports seem to emphasize the natural events (high wind, heat, dryness, etc) that caused this fire to get out of control, rather than focusing on the human error that ultimately created it and allowed the natural causes the opportunity to make this so much worse, I wonder at those in charge and/or who dealt with it that they are so out of touch with their community. What I see is a community that is very self-motivated, trying to be responsible for the most part, has pulled together and done amazing things supporting one another and the responders during the event, and take care of what they should and help their neighbors; but, are moving further into disbelief and disgust that those in charge aren't holding themselves accountable and feel like they can't trust those who are here to help us. I think this course of divergence must be reversed or nothing will change - those in charge have a unique opportunity to truly engage the community, and the community has a unique opportunity to make their voices heard.

I keep hearing the message that we aren't learning any lessons, even though we deal with the same risks every year. What can be done to change this from talk to action? Ideas?

That's a hard one SC. When you have a government that does whatever it wants, violates its own protocols amongst other things, it becomes very hard to build trust with its citizens.

There are so many people who don't mitigate and don't really intend to. Why bother. Maybe they are rolling the die (dice), but chances aren't as likely, according to many, that they will have a fire and their home will burn. In fact one idiot in the Hi Meadow fire wanted her home to burn down cuz then she could build a new one. How is that for mindblowing.

As far as the court cases, it will make Hickenlooper and others pay attention and address the issue. There really should be an independent citizen review panel so that we aren't paying Bass and other specifically appointed people to review. It shows bias or the appearance of bias.

McLaughlin had some good things to say and I hope that he won't tell other fire departments that this is the plan and do it, but ask for their input as we have some solid fire chiefs and staff who are very familiar with the surrounding areas. And maybe they will reset their lines so that the people on Kuehster are part of Elk Creek rather than Intercanyon as the access for Intercanyon is up the Hi Grade, a long windy road or from South Turkey Creek via 285. Too long a delay. (Came back to add that both districts have really good firefighters. It is the delay and distance that added to the problems.)

As for the County Commissioners I would hope that they won't allow any more subdivision w/o at least two viable accesses out.

As for the huge disconnect, I feel the impacted homeowners pain. They go to a town hall meeting and while there is some addressing of the homeowners it was a rah-rah we did good. Not exactly what you want to hear when you have lost everything.

Becky wrote: You have no case.

Sure I do, I and others explained gross negligence.

Amazing that some people will just look at reviews and accept them as fair and accurate. CSFS and Jeffco Sheriff are covering their behinds, nothing more.

Take the blinders off. People died, homes were burned or damaged. Too many FU.

But at least they know the culprit. Hi Meadow residents had to carry the burden themselves.

Let me just sum it up (this is NOT in reference to the first responders of the fire).....I can STILL visualize Pres. Bush putting his arm
around "Brownie" and saying "You did one hellva' job Brownie" in reference to New Orleans and Katrina.....the VISUAL is the same here.
I understand the investigation needs to play out and the facts need to be concrete,but WHEN they are........we will have this discussion ONE MORE TIME.JMO.......