Black Forest Fire Archives

Investigation report released for Black Forest Fire

Bill GabbertNovember 18, 2014November 18, 2014UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado, Colorado Springs, report3 Comments

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has released a summary report on the investigation of the Black Forest Fire which started June 11, 2013 near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire killed two people and burned 489 houses and 14,280 acres, resulting in $420 million in insured losses.

The investigators eliminated natural causes, such as lightning. That left human-related ignitions.

Below are excerpts from the report:

…Given the known devastation of the fire at that point, an Investigation Team was formed consisting of recognized experts in the area of Wildland fire investigation from agencies including the USDA Forest Service, the Aurora Fire Department, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE), the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and others. This team was assisted by surveyors from the El Paso County Public Services Department.

…

The only clearly established fact was that no natural causes existed and thus the fire was human caused. A potential cause associated with the metal particles can not be ruled out, or positively identified. A potential cause associated with an intentional ignition is not supported by the evidence or circumstances, but can not be completely ruled out. The origin of the fire is in an area that is not readily accessible from a roadway, allowing an easy escape, as is typical in intentionally set Wildland fires. There was no evidence of any other miscellaneous cause such as blasting, fireworks, welding, target shooting, etc.

…

Upon the completion of the investigation, the entire case was reviewed by the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division and the District Attorney’s Office to determine if any additional leads remained. It was the determination of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office that there was not sufficient evidence to warrant criminal prosecution at this time. None of the investigation or forensic examination supported any one possibility to the extent needed to pursue criminal charges. Additionally, no additional recommended follow-up work could be identified at this time.

Three other reports have previously been released about the Black Forest Fire:

Report on how the fire was managed on the first day, issued by the Black Forest Fire District Board on February 19, 2014. The complete report can no longer be found on the District’s web site.
A 2,000 page, 345 megabyte report, released March 14, 2014, commissioned by the Black Forest Fire District which evaluated how the fire was managed, including the performance of Fire Chief Bob Harvey during the first hours of the fire. Sheriff Terry Maketa had been extremely critical of the Chief in numerous interviews with the media. The complete report can no longer be found on the District’s web site.
After Action Report, by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, May 15, 2014. We preserved this report on the Wildfire Today web site.

Colorado County Sheriff releases report on Black Forest Fire

Bill GabbertJune 12, 2014August 25, 2019UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado5 Comments

Terry Maketa, the sheriff of Colorado’s El Paso County, has released a report about the Black Forest Fire, the third report about the fire by agencies in the county. In June of 2013 the fire claimed two lives, 14,000 acres, and 486 homes near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The state is one of a few that make the local county sheriff responsible for fire suppression on non-federal lands, and Sheriff Maketa made sure that his photograph was prominently displayed at the top of page two in the report.

The Sheriff has been extremely critical of Black Forest Fire District Chief Bob Harvey who was the Incident Commander during the early stages of the fire. Sheriff Maketa has given several blistering interviews to the media criticizing Chief Harvey’s actions that day. His main point was that he thinks the Chief should have turned over the fire to him or the county much earlier. Two other reports have been commissioned and released by the Black Forest Fire District Board. One of them concluded that about two hours after the initial dispatch Chief Harvey turned over the fire to County Deputy Fire Marshall Scott Campbell, a Type 3 Incident Commander. The second report by the Fire District contained more than 2,000 pages and can be downloaded, but it is a HUGE 345 MB file.

The Sheriff’s 127-page report points out a number of areas for improvement, including

communications,
non-interoperable radio systems, (has a fire report ever NOT listed communications as a problem?),
fire radio traffic and dispatching overwhelming routine dispatching,
management of information technology, and
reconnaissance.

Apparently there were two Incident Commanders — one for the fire and one for law enforcement. This was a violation of a core Incident Command System principle. The report suggested additional ICS training and incorporating law enforcement into the fire command structure in future incidents, such as making them a functional Branch.

The Sheriff’s report took several shots at the handling of the fire by the Black Forest Fire Protection District during the first two hours, including the report on conditions and the transition to the County.

When Sheriff Maketa introduced his fire report at a news conference this week, he deflected several questions from reporters about the recent unanimous vote by the El Paso County commissioners to ask him to resign over allegations of sexual impropriety, discrimination, creating a hostile workplace, violating civil rights, and more. The commissioners can’t force the sheriff to resign since he is an elected official. Maketa has said in spite of the allegations, he will serve out the remainder of his term which ends later this year.

An interesting side note from the report:

The Food Unit utilized Yellow Stone Kelly’s catering starting on June 13, however they had difficulties meeting the contract serving requirements and requested to be replaced. Interim meals were provided for dinner on June 16 and breakfast and lunch on June 17, with the assistance of local restaurants. On June 17, Big Sky #4 catering arrived at the [Incident Command Post] and began providing meals throughout the duration of the incident.

Incident Management Team personnel helped serve those three meals on June 16 and 17.

Colorado sheriff who battled with fire chief asked to resign

Bill GabbertMay 29, 2014August 25, 2019UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado1 Comment

Sheriff Terry Maketa. El Paso County Sheriffs office photo.

The Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting that the El Paso County commissioners voted unanimously, 5-0, Thursday requesting that Sheriff Terry Maketa resign immediately amid recent allegations of misconduct. Sheriff Maketa’s name may be familiar to Wildfire Today readers, since he initiated a very public campaign of criticism against Bob Harvey, the Fire Chief responsible for the first two hours of the initial attack of the Black Forest Fire in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The media campaign the Sheriff launched was unprecedented, in our experience.

Colorado is one of a few states that give the local county sheriff the responsibility for fire suppression on non-federal land, regardless of the individual’s knowledge or experience in fire suppression.

The reports we have read about the effort to push the Sheriff out of his job do not mention his vendetta against Chief Harvey, but refer to allegations of sexual impropriety, discrimination, creating a hostile workplace, violating civil rights, and more.

When one of the commissioners asked the Sheriff to resign on Tuesday, Maketa issued a statement saying he intends to serve the seven months remaining in his term.

Firefighter helmet cam on the Black Forest Fire

Bill GabbertApril 6, 2014UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire

The video was shot with a firefighter’s helmet cam on the Black Forest Forest Fire in 2013 near Colorado Springs. The fire was the most destructive in Colorado’s history, claiming two lives, 14,000 acres, and nearly 500 homes

Report released for the Black Forest Fire

Bill GabbertMarch 14, 2014August 25, 2019UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado, Colorado Springs2 Comments

(Originally published at 3:02 p.m. MDT, March 14, 2014; updates are below))

Today the Board of Directors of the Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District released the report of its independent investigation into the performance of Fire Chief Bob Harvey during the first hours of the Black Forest Fire. The investigation was conducted to respond to Sheriff Terry Maketa’s allegations that Chief Harvey had mismanaged command during the first day of the fire. In June of 2013 the fire claimed two lives, 14,000 acres, and nearly 500 homes near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The report contains more than 2,000 pages and the files are ridiculously huge. It is absurd to think that 345 megabites and 2,000 pages will be downloaded and read by the average citizen. A cynic might think they wanted to reduce its impact by releasing it on a Friday afternoon, and purposefully made the report as user unfriendly as possible in order to deter people from reading it. The Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District needs to provide a version of the report that is easily downloaded and read by their taxpayers.

–To download the complete report, including all exhibits and photographs:
Click here to download the complete report in one file. This file measures 345 megabytes.

–To download the report and exhibits separately from the photographs:
Click here to download the report and exhibits only – File #1 of 2. This file measures 109 megabytes.
Click here to download just the photographs – File #2 of 2. This file measures 236 megabytes.

(UPDATE at 3:06 p.m. MDT, March 14, 2014)

The Denver Post read at least some of the report:

On the first night of the Black Forest fire, four firefighters and a piece of key equipment were ordered on a “secret special assignment” to watch and protect the home of an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office commander while other nearby houses burned, according to a report released Friday…

(UPDATE at 5:56 p.m. MDT, March 14, 2014)

We downloaded the report and found some other interesting sections.

A report was filed on a safety issue on the fire, through the SAFENET reporting system. It involves the Type 3 Incident Commander (ICT3) who assumed command of the fire from Fire Chief Harvey. Below is an excerpt from the SAFENET. The ICT3 referred to apparently is the ICT3 from the El Paso County Sheriffs Office.
Continue reading “Report released for the Black Forest Fire”

Colorado: Fire Board releases report on Black Forest Fire

Bill GabbertFebruary 19, 2014December 23, 2021UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Photo by Bill G5 Comments

Today the Black Forest Fire District Board released a report on how the Black Forest Fire was managed on the first day. Starting on the northeast side of Colorado Springs, the fire killed two people, destroyed 486 homes, and damaged 37 others in June of 2013.

The local county Sheriff, Terry Maketa, has been extremely critical of Fire Chief Bob Harvey,who was responsible for the initial attack. Sheriff Maketa has given several blistering interviews to the media criticizing Chief Harvey’s actions that day. His main point was that he thinks the Chief should have turned over the fire to him or the county much earlier.

The documents released today, a statement from the Board and a summary of the report, show strong support for Chief Harvey and generally appear to disprove some of the charges leveled by Sheriff Maketa.

One of the Sheriff’s main contentions was that the Chief waited many hours before turning over the management of the fire to the County or the Sheriff, which the Sheriff said occurred at 8:23 p.m..

The report concluded that the fire was reported at 1:42 p.m. on June 11. The first engine arrived about six minutes later. At 2:14 p.m. a strong wind of 25 to 35 mph developed, increasing the rate of spread and pushing the fire into the crowns of the trees. Firefighters were then forced into defensive positions for their own safety. Between 3:45 and 3:55 p.m. Chief Harvey verbally turned over command of the fire to County Deputy Fire Marshall Scott Campbell, a Type 3 Incident Commander. At 4:08 p.m. Mr. Campbell signed a document confirming the transfer of command. Other signatures on a Delegation of Authority document were obtained over the next several hours, with the last occurring at 8:23 p.m.

The Board commissioned retired Greenwood Village Police commander Dave Fisher to direct the inquiry. Mr. Fisher retired in October after a 29-year career at the suburban Denver department. He was assisted by Dave Daley, an operations executive officer at South Metro Fire Rescue in Centennial.

The statement of the Board criticized the attacks by the Sheriff and the media:

…This misadventure started because one elected official saw fit, for whatever personal or political reason, to make unsubstantiated allegations about our Chief’s performance following the onset of the Black Forest fire. We say unsubstantiated because the investigation has proven the facts, and what’s been established is very, very far from what was alleged. We have no way of knowing the motive in making these allegations and we are certain we will never know.

We also must acknowledge how disappointed we are in the conduct of some Colorado Springs media outlets in simply running with the allegations, and broadcasting the untruths, without a speck of legitimate journalistic enterprise to establish their validity. The media accepted the allegations at face value, further damaging this department’s reputation, and continued to repeat the damaging suppositions – again, leading us to hire our own investigator to get at the heart of the matter.

Colorado is one of a few states that have the policy of assigning the suppression of wildfires in unincorporated areas to the county employee with law enforcement responsibilities in those areas — the County Sheriff — rather than a person with expertise in fire suppression.

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