Lower North Fork Fire & Prescribed Fire Review

We have some bigger trees here that can be dug and transplanted.

They are from one foot to six feet at least 50 maybe more all in one area that is flat and off of our driveway.

If you want to do the digging and take them to a place that needs them please let me know.

Oops! From The Flume e-edition page 2. More ammo for the homeowner's attorneys. Shows that CSFS had reason to know and failed to use due diligence.

http://www.theflume.com/eedition/page_0 ... 06a3d.html

Rod Jeske, Kennedy Gulch resident..."There was negligence involved."

...pointed to the March 2007 Lower North Fork Community Wildfier Protection Plan...He cited Page 6 which gives a warning of conditions that could cause high fire danger in the Lower North Fork area.

"Low fuel moistures and relative humidity are common in the area, as are periods of high winds. Whey dry and windy conditions coincide the stage is set for large, troublesome wildfires."...
"Fires originating in or near communities are the most immediate concern, but fires starting well beyond the boundaries of the planning area can have profound effects upon the communities."

And not one mention in that fair and unbiased report headed by Bill Bass as Rod Jeske pointed out.

Now there is added evidence that they knew or should have known. And they don't even have to point to the CSFS Incident Commander. This goes to the permitting process by all involved and CSFS top brass.

It was wonderful spending some time with my dad this evening talking about this very issue.

HappyCamper wrote: We have some bigger trees here that can be dug and transplanted.

They are from one foot to six feet at least 50 maybe more all in one area that is flat and off of our driveway.

If you want to do the digging and take them to a place that needs them please let me know.

Thank you HappyCamper. Another person offered the homeowner some trees but after talking with the Jeffco Conservation District he has elected not to replant. He has a beautiful southern exposure and while it would take the trees some time to grow they would eventually block his view and sun.

I will share with him though what you have offered as he and other affected homeowners meet and perhaps there will be some who might be interested. CSU Extension offers seedlings to the homeowners but it seems to me that slightly bigger trees, like you are offering, tend to do better than the seedlings.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20506 ... -residents

Lower North Fork fire ambushed crews, surprised residents
...Fire officials waited to order evacuations until the blaze crossed a certain point in the terrain, not realizing how quickly it would gallop across the space between that point and homes. Only 20 minutes before the fire began destroying homes, one fire chief estimated it would be two hours until structures would be threatened....

Looks like the fire chiefs ignored the Lower North Fork Fire Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Can't imagine that they would be surprised with the high wind.

Let's hope lessons are learned by all from this.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20506 ... -residents

Lower North Fork fire ambushed crews, surprised residents

This statement really touched me....

"It's one thing to fix it for the future so it doesn't happen again; there's a whole string of people here and families and lives that have been absolutely shattered; lives lost. We need to fix that first before we fix the future in my opinion," said Scott.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30 ... etail.html

Becky wrote: This statement really touched me....

"It's one thing to fix it for the future so it doesn't happen again; there's a whole string of people here and families and lives that have been absolutely shattered; lives lost. We need to fix that first before we fix the future in my opinion," said Scott.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30 ... etail.html

What the statement reflects and what the article portrays is the HUMAN TRAGEDY in it's FULL spectrum.......So I am confused (and am
EARNEST in my question) Does this article/statement mean you have changed your mind about the pending legislation to make this
somewhat whole? Your post seems to contradict your recent stance about "the best and worst of the mountain community".....and
your adamant stance on monetary compensation (from those who are responsible for the tragedy)......NOT my intent to make this ugly
or defensive,just confused about your above post.......JMO

from the link

"People don't leave every time there's smoke. And I don't think that's reasonable to expect people to do that either," said Scott. "If anybody would have known the magnitude of what was happening here, they'd all been gone for a good long while. There's no doubt in my mind that something totally unexpected came up over that hill."

"I guess the question I would have is -- for the Governor or anybody that was involved in this thing is -- if I had done exactly what they did; if that was my ground down there and I did what they did on that day, everything being identical. Does anybody think for a minute that I could take the position that the state has taken with immunity?"

Heartbreaking. Sorry for your loss Scott. Thank you for not letting us forget and hopefully for the changes that will made.

What I do not get in this awful tragedy is why authorities said 'we have crews on the way' in that call from Ann. From the people I have talked to, when you have heavy smoke over your house you should be preparing to leave or be told to leave. In my view, and I realize this may be controversial and I am in no way trying to start something, why didn't anyone ask her if she was getting ready to leave?

Some questions that come up in my mind:

Jeffco is a very large county. Maybe the dispatcher was closer to Denver and did not understand the dynamics of fires. This is starting to sound like a major training issue for the county, from what i have seen and heard. Keep in mind I was listening to the scanner when this fire happened and posting on this site. And I heard the confusion. And we also heard reports in the news of dispatchers telling callers to stop calling. That family made it out by the skin of their teeth. It sounded to me as if the dispatchers were talking to them like they were reporting the fire too many times like you would in the city but the dispatchers did not understand that they may have been callling to ask what to do. The callers just did not mention that because they expected the dispatchers to know this and understand the gravity of what was going on. Then let them know if it was a danger and to get out of there. And I believe they were relying on the dispatchers to relay when they should leave. Just my opinion from where I am sitting and what I heard.

Once I heard 3 robberies in the smoky Hill area within an hour. I knew right away from listening on my end that it was the same person because I could hear it from a distance but they didn't see that right away.

From everything I have heard and seen with this fire communication issues and I really feel training of dispatchers had everything to do with what happened. They did have some real problems with radio transmissions but you can't blame the dispatchers problems on that. I believe there is some confusion within the system on who is responsible for alerting residents and I believe that residents believe officials would tell them what to do and from everything I have seen and heard the officials are putting alot of that decision making process on the residents. The problem is that the officials never made that clear. All a communication misunderstanding. In the city if we get a tornado you hear a siren. In remote areas, the only way you are going to know there is a problem is with a emergency alert notification call or if you call them they have to tell you over the phone. And I don't believe it is widely known by some, that you have to sign up for calls.

So, that being said. I truly believe that the system is what needs to change and Jeffco officials need to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR (and that means stating it over and over again) what their policy is so people know next time what they should do and how they need to make these decisions. It seems to me Ann did not know that she had to make that decision. I believe there was just too many conflicting policies and no one was clear.

Once again, I take this seriously. I am not trying to cause and issue but telling you what I saw from my view in the middle of all this.