News and opinion about wildland fire
A reporter for 9news.com in Colorado, in the video below, asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack who supervises the U.S. Forest Service, why the very large air tankers like the two DC-10s or the 747 have not been used on fires in Colorado. His answers revolved around “every fire is different” and “it’s complicated”.
Thanks go out to Trish and Rick.
I don’t know who took these photos of the President’s visit to the Waldo Canyon fire on June 29, but they are on the same flickr site where Kari Greer posts her fire photos. The photographer was not identified at the site.
It never occurred to me that after being briefed about the fire and then inspecting some of the destroyed houses, that he would have to stand there and sign autographs for firefighters. I suppose it’s a friendly gesture on his part.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized7 Comments on 5-day time-lapse of Waldo Canyon fire The video is a five day time-lapse of the Waldo Canyon fire that spread into Colorado Springs, burning at least 348 homes and killing two people. It was shot by Steve Moraco, who suggests that you watch it in full screen and in HD if at all possible. To do that, start the video then click on the little red YouTube icon at the bottom-right, then choose your resolution (the little gear symbol) and full-screen.
If you don’t have time to watch the entire 16-minute video, at least check out Tuesday (which starts at about 6:30), the day all hell broke loose when a thunderstorm cell a few miles away created 65-mph winds that pushed the fire into the city.
Mr. Moraco says it was made from 20,000 8MP Jpeg images on a Canon 7D with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. Then the still images were converted into a video on a Mac using Adobe’s Lightroom and Premiere in full 24fps 1080p.
And, Mr. Moraco also wrote:
Thanks to my family for carefully avoiding bumping the tripod that has been on our deck for the last week, and especially mom who has been incredibly helpful in reminding me to check the camera battery.
Thanks go out to Don.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized6 Comments on President Obama visits the Waldo Canyon fire 
President Obama arrived at Colorado Springs at 12:13 p.m. MT Friday, 3 hours and 20 minutes later than the White House’s schedule, then he toured the Waldo Canyon fire area and received a briefing from incident personnel. The schedule called for him to be in Colorado Springs for 2 hours and 50 minutes.
The original plans were for Air Force One to park at Peterson Air Force base on the northeast side of the Colorado Springs Airport, but instead it went to the opposite side, perhaps to avoid interfering with operations of the four military MAFFS air tankers at Peterson. The President, accompanied by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and several other politicians departed the airport in an SUV, rather than a helicopter.
After he looked at some of the burned areas he received a briefing about the status of the fire. Then he made a short statement, speaking contemporaneously, without notes or a teleprompter. Here are some excerpts that I transcribed from the television coverage on CNN:
…Some lessons are being learned about how we can mitigate some of these fires in the future and I know that the Mayor and the Governor and other local officials are already in those conversations. It means that hopefully out of this tragedy some long-term planning occurs and it may be that we can curb some of the damage that happens the next time even though it is obvious that we can’t fully control fires that are starting up in these mountains.
[…]
The last point I want to make, is that we can provide all the resources. We can make sure they are well coordinated. But as I just told these firefighters what we can’t do is to provide them with the courage and the determination and the professionalism, the heart that they show when they are out there battling these fires.
When we had a chance on site to see some guys who had just saved three homes in a community that had been devastated, for those families, the work and the sacrifices of those firefighters means the world to them and they are genuine heroes. So we just want to say thank you to all the folks that have been involved in this, we’re proud of you, we appreciate what you do each and every day, and for folks all around the country I hope you are reminded how important our fire departments are, our Forest Service is. Sometimes they don’t get the credit that they deserve until your house is burning down or your community is being threatened. You have to understand that they are putting their lives at risk to save us and to help us. We’ve got to make sure we remember that 365 days a year, not just when tragedies like this strike.
Below is a video clip from Friday morning’s Today Show. It provides an update on the fire including a few seconds from the cockpit of a MAFFS C-130 air tanker..
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Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on One fatality in Colorado Springs Waldo Canyon fire 
(The map above is an example of how the the Waldo Canyon fire spread into the Flying W Ranch area of Colorado Springs on Tuesday, June 26. HERE is a link to a map that can zoom in to see more details. MODIS/Google)
Authorities searching through the rubble of the 348 homes that burned in the Waldo Canyon fire at Colorado Springs, Colorado found the remains of one person. A second person at that home and another nine are still unaccounted for that live in the areas that burned in the fire.
Firefighters wanted to do some burning out Thursday night to remove some of the fuels adjacent to the firelines but the humidity was too high. That same humidity also prohibited any additional spread of the fire, which has burned 16,750 acres and officially is 15 percent contained at a cost to date of $5.2 million.
President Obama will tour the fire area on Friday to inspect the destruction. Officials said this would not interfere with fire operations and the number of closed roads will be less than you would typically encounter during a Presidential visit. He will most likely fly in to Peterson Air Force Base at Colorado Springs and we are thinking that he may have a photo op with the military MAFFS C-130 air tankers working out of the base.
If the president makes any public comments during his visit it will be interesting to see if he mentions wildland fire preparedness, such as the reductions over the last few years in funding, and the reduced number of firefighters, equipment, and air tankers.
The City of Colorado Springs announced that they will release a list of the damaged homes by mid-morning on Friday. It will be posted on the city’s web site at http://springsgov.com/
A slide show with aerial photos of the destruction in the urban area is jaw-dropping.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Colorado: Flagstaff and Waldo Canyon fires force evacuations UPDATED at 8:52, a.m. MT, June 27, 2012:
Due to a large number of people seeking information about the Waldo Fire in Colorado Springs, our site hosting provider is having some issues. We have posted updated maps and more information about the fire at our sister site, Examiner.com.
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Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs
The Waldo Canyon fire has burned over 6,000 acres northwest of Colorado Springs since Saturday, but it found new life on Tuesday and exhibited extreme fire behavior as a record high temperature of 101 and strong winds pushed it into a populated area, burning an undetermined number of homes while forcing 32,000 people from their homes.
Around 7 p.m. the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 were closed at Interquest Parkway. The northbound lanes remained open at that time. All lanes were later opened.
An evacuation order was issued after 9 p.m. by the City of Colorado Springs for areas that are north of Garden of the Gods Rd. between I-25 to the east all the way to the western City limits and north to the Air Force Academy. The evacuated areas in the Air Force Academy include Academy Dr. to the USAFA’s southern and western boundaries.
The Academy’s glider port is being used as a helibase for the helicopters dropping water on the fire.Their Class of 2016, consisting of 1,045 freshmen cadets, are scheduled to arrive Thursday.
A Type 1 Incident Management Team, Great Basin Team 2, Incident Commander Rich Harvey, assumed command Monday morning, June 25.
Information about evacuations can be found at InciWeb. Public Information Center Phones: 719-520-7058, 720-402-7935, 720-202-4510, 720-237-9947, 720-237-3417
The City of Colorado Springs also has some fire information, including a map of areas that are under evacuation orders.
Flagstaff fire near Boulder
The Flagstaff fire started mid-afternoon on Tuesday about three miles southwest of Boulder, Colorado and by 4:45 p.m. had spread so rapidly that a Type 1 Incident Management Team from California staged in the Denver area, Rocky Opliger Incident Commander, was dispatched to manage the fire. First called the Bison fire, it became the Flagstaff fire, named after a nearby road.
The first evacuations were ordered before 3:28 p.m. and the size at that time was estimated at 200 to 300 acres.
Below is information as of 9:00 p.m. from the City of Boulder Office of Emergency Management:
