
Posted: 6/10/2002 11:42:58 AM EST
By JENNIFER HAMILTON
.c The Associated Press
DENVER (June 10) - A wind-whipped wildfire prompted authorities to order the evacuation of up to 40,000 people Monday from their homes along the southwestern edge of the Denver metropolitan area.
The 61,000-acre fire roared to within 10 miles of residential neighborhoods. Firefighters were pulled off the lines because it was too dangerous, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered from homes near Roxborough State Park, the U.S. Forest Service said.
The fire was started by an illegal campfire Saturday in Pike National Forest 55 miles southwest of Denver.
The fire was one of at least eight burning in Colorado, including an 8,300-acre blaze that destroyed 24 homes and sent residents fleeing in Glenwood Springs, near Storm King Mountain.
It was 5 percent contained Monday as airplanes resumed bombing the flames with retardant. The fire destroyed 40 structures, including 24 homes. About 3,000 residents were ordered to evacuate over the weekend.
No injuries were reported at Glenwood Springs, but firefighters there were especially cautious because of memories of the Storm King fire that killed 14 firefighters on similarly dry, steep terrain in 1994.
Southwest of Denver, the fire doubled in size overnight Sunday. Nearly 300 firefighters were on the lines, and more crews were ordered into place. Four bombers and four helicopters dropped fire retardant and water.
A shift in winds lifted the yellow haze that hung over the Denver on Sunday, said Christopher Dann, a spokesman for the region's Air Pollution Control Division.
Campfires have been banned in national forests and most counties because of severe drought.
AP-NY-06-10-02 1552EDT
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Befrending the enemy through superior firepower
Baka...Mina baka... |
Shhhhhhh!
You don't wanna get charged as an accessory before the fact, now do you?
Eric The(LegalBeagle)Hun[>]:)]
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No, actually I don't.
There are enough idiots around here who don't understand what "NO CAMPFIRES OR OPEN FLAMES" means without outsiders helping.
There is serious smoke and haze over Denver atm, blowing in from the south west, worse than our worst pollution days. It has been dry as a bone around here, with below average rain and winter snow pack for 4 years.
Last night, there were 30,000 acres consumed and today hasn't cooled off any.
There are alot of expensive homes in those areas and I expect damage to reach the hundreds of millions if not the billion dollar range.
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Originally Posted By legrue:
No, actually I don't.
There are enough idiots around here who don't understand what "NO CAMPFIRES OR OPEN FLAMES" means without outsiders helping.
There is serious smoke and haze over Denver atm, blowing in from the south west, worse than our worst pollution days. It has been dry as a bone around here, with below average rain and winter snow pack for 4 years.
Last night, there were 30,000 acres consumed and today hasn't cooled off any.
There are alot of expensive homes in those areas and I expect damage to reach the hundreds of millions if not the billion dollar range.
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Befrending the enemy through superior firepower
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it looks like the rabid environmentalist/forest service plan to end logging is working very well.
No service roads maintained by the logging companies to fight fires, no selective logging to reduce the extent of fire damage, no clearing of tinderbox underbrush by logging companies.
just unemployment, lost revenue and the added bonus of acres of burned timber and lost homes. oh yeah, they have a plan....
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Originally Posted By FL_BOY:
it looks like the rabid environmentalist/forest service plan to end logging is working very well.
No service roads maintained by the logging companies to fight fires, no selective logging to reduce the extent of fire damage, no clearing of tinderbox underbrush by logging companies.
just unemployment, lost revenue and the added bonus of acres of burned timber and lost homes. oh yeah, they have a plan.... View Quote |
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I'm putting my box fan on the back porch and pointing it toward Texas. [:D]
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I live about 11 miles from Glenwood Springs fire. I live west of that fire. Most of the time the winds are blowing nortwest or northwest. If it was to blow west I would be in trouble. My wife was going into town on Sat. but deceided not to. Good thing since 60 miles of I-70 was blocked off for 24 hours. She would have been stuck at the shelters. We could see the glow of the fire at night.
I told my wife that the first two things I was grabbing was my guns and the gold and silver. She responds " what about me and the cats?" I say oh thats third and fourth. She was not amused. I thought it was funny.
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The smoke and haze is extreme and the wind is so strong that the ground fire crews have been evacuated. The slurry bombers are uneffective due to the wind. The only thing they are doing is dropping water from helicopters.
I disagree with Legrue, I think thinning of the trees and increased logging would help in this case. Many of these areas have been buiding up tinder for decades.
So far this is the largest fire in Colorado history and it will just get worse.
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When They Knock Down Your Front Door, How You Going To Come? With Your Hands On Your Head Or On The Trigger Of Your Gun?
Bassist Paul Simonon-The Clash |
Originally Posted By SS109:
I disagree with Legrue, I think thinning of the trees and increased logging would help in this case. Many of these areas have been buiding up tinder for decades.
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Original Poster: Please change your subject line. Nobody has been evacuated from Denver Metro yet, don't panic, don't cause panic.
[i]The southwestern edge of the Denver metropolitan area[/i] is the area in question, which is about 20 miles away from Denver.
/me calls for calm
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I didn't write the title, I just cut and pasted it off of AOL.
Same with the article. If its incorrect take it up with Associated Press
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Befrending the enemy through superior firepower
Baka...Mina baka... |
So far 80,000 acres burnt. Could reach 100,000 by tonight
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Originally Posted By Sparky:
So far 80,000 acres burnt. Could reach 100,000 by tonight View Quote |
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Befrending the enemy through superior firepower
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Rest of the article seems to be correct, I just complained about the headline, which wasn't your fault.
I already have people sending me frantic e-mails after they've read the article on a number of sites and seen the news on TV.
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I think that report is alittle outdated. It was 80,000 as of the 6:00 news. And yes lots of homes are treatened and the town of Sedalia may be evacuated. Right now firefighters are saying there is nothing they can do. They can't get near it cause its to dangerous
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I do a fair amount of cabinet business with customers living in mountain communities. These people living in VERY expensive homes seem to want the feeling of being "nestled among the pines", and don't give a second thought about clearing the brush and timber away from their homes. I hate to say it, but you reap what you sow. I'm gonna be really pissed when those who didn't have fire insurance (and if you live in one of the homes I'm referring to, you can damn well afford it) start getting assistance from the state for their losses.
I just finished a job up at Genesee a few weeks ago, and the house was surrounded by pine trees in close proximity. I mentioned to the owner that he should really cut the trees back from the house, he told me to mind my own business.
Okay moron, see ya on the news. [rolleyes]
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I own 160 acres in the "red zone" and have just contracted to have a logging company come in and thin the trees.
I was cutting a trail just last week and the chainsaw just whipped through the pine trees like they were Balsa wood due to the extreme dryness.
The big fire was bound to happen and most of the locals have done an impressive job clearing their lots, the newbies & commuters generally don't do as well.
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When They Knock Down Your Front Door, How You Going To Come? With Your Hands On Your Head Or On The Trigger Of Your Gun?
Bassist Paul Simonon-The Clash |
USFS corrects itself about evacuations.
By JENNIFER HAMILTON
.c The Associated Press
DENVER (June 10) - A wind-driven wildfire closed in fast on Denver on Monday, and authorities said up to 40,000 people might have to be evacuated from their homes along the southwestern edge of the metropolitan area.
The 61,000-acre fire roared to within 10 miles of residential neighborhoods, spreading toward Denver at about a mile an hour.
Firefighters were pulled off the lines in front of the fire because it was too dangerous.
''They just cannot see the front of this fire because of the smoke,'' said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman said Barb Masinton.
Nearly 500 homes and several campgrounds about 50 miles southwest of Denver were evacuated on Sunday.
Masinton told The Associated Press that an additional 40,000 residents had been ordered evacuated. But U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Susan Haywood, who is Masinton's boss, later said Masinton misspoke. She said that it was possible 40,000 would have to be evacuated, but that no such order had been issued.
''It was our lifelong dream to live up here,'' said one of those evacuated, Carol Simone, whose home is about 30 miles south of Denver. ''It isn't about the house, it's the woods and the environment. If that's destroyed I'm going back to Florida.''
The fire was started by an illegal campfire Saturday in the Pike National Forest 55 miles southwest of Denver and had doubled in size since Sunday. Campfires have been banned in national forests and most counties because of severe drought.
Nearly 300 firefighters were on the lines and more crews were ordered into place. Four bombers and four helicopters dropped fire retardant and water.
It was one of at least eight fires in Colorado, including an 8,300-acre blaze that destroyed 24 homes and sent residents fleeing in Glenwood Springs, near Storm King Mountain in western Colorado.
The fire near Glenwood Springs was 5 percent contained Monday as improved weather allowed airplanes to resume bombing the flames with retardant. The fire destroyed 40 structures, including 24 homes. About 3,000 residents were ordered to evacuate during the weekend.
Authorities said a few residents might be allowed to return to pick up urgently needed items such as medicine.
No injuries were reported at Glenwood Springs, but firefighters there were especially cautious because of memories of the Storm King fire that killed 14 firefighters on similarly dry, steep terrain in 1994.
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Befrending the enemy through superior firepower
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