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Fire on Backside of Flatirons

Canon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2011 · Points: 0

Eldo is closed.

Phil Lauffen · · Innsbruck, AT · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 3,098
Colorado Springs.

Potentially thousands of people lost their homes in Colorado Springs last night in my neighborhood. Keep them in your thoughts.
Jeremy Hand · · Northern VA · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 100

HOLY HELL! My prayers, condolences, and best wishes go out to all affected!

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

This is from Wednesday AM, 6-27.



It's pretty much out now.
Marc Reich · · Boulder, CO · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 20

It looks out but i wouldn't be so sure. I still saw some light smoke hanging around bear peak and that ridge this morning and its supposedly at 230 acres. The daily camera is saying officials are concerned about today's weather, particularly the wind: dailycamera.com/ci_20946242…

Jeremy Hand · · Northern VA · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 100

thank God! Or whatever you believe in.

Atleast we don't have to worry about brush anymore and perhaps a few more lines are opened now.

Edit: Too soon?

Elena Sera Jose · · colorado · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 350

Yea u all know what's next ....its mudslide and flashflood! Freakin rupture! I guess we r on schedule.

Julius Beres · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 364
Stich wrote:It's pretty much out now.
According to the news, there is 0% containment so far... the winds just died down last night so the smoke isn't coming over the ridge, but 230 acres are still burning.

I know all open space around Boulder is closed... anyone know if the national forest land in Boulder Canyon is open?
Rick Blair · · Denver · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 266

I'm hoping for the best in the Flations. One thing I have observed over the years hiking through there is that the forrest management in that area seems to be excellent.

As a parent with small children, the news that 32,000+ people are evacuated from their homes in Colo Springs almost literally brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine what they are going through down there. Let's hope Boulder is spared. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

John Keller · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2001 · Points: 5

A little information about how we do and don't fight fire. Be nice if we could update what we do.

youtube.com/watch?v=bBj5LgV…

GabeO · · Boston, MA · Joined May 2006 · Points: 302

@ John Keller - interesting. Personally, I'd MUCH rather see our military used for that. But... now we're getting into politics.

GO

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520
CJC wrote: quoted for posterity
From the picture it looks out. But embers are no doubt still burning. It aint no Waldo Canyon fire.
Mark Roth · · Boulder · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 14,062
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Julius Beres wrote: According to the news, there is 0% containment so far... the winds just died down last night so the smoke isn't coming over the ridge, but 230 acres are still burning. I know all open space around Boulder is closed... anyone know if the national forest land in Boulder Canyon is open?
So all the Flatirons are closed? Sounds selfish of me to ask, but hey this is a climbing site.
Andy Librande · · Denver, CO · Joined Nov 2005 · Points: 1,880

Here is a short timelapse video of the fire last night around 7:00pm that I shot. Looked like a volcano was erupting. We need some moisture!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVu9JDZPnUk

smassey · · CO · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 200

Yes, the Flatirons are closed. All OSMP land from Flatirons Vista TH to Canyon Blvd. bouldercolorado.gov/index.p… There is nothing on the Forest Service website to indicate closures in BoCan, but there are plenty of restrictions in place. fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news…

J. Thompson · · denver, co · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,425
Stich wrote: It's pretty much out now.
It might seem like it is, but it's not.

Iy's just not in it's burn hours yet. During the night the relative Temps go down and The Relative humidity comes up, when that happens fires TYPICALLY (not always) lay down and don't burn very actively. The typical "Burn period" is from 10am to 7PM, Thats when the temps are at there highest and the RH is at its lowest.

Now if you add in wind (especially erratic winds from thunderstorms) it's off to the races.

I'll also go so far as to say there will likely be mulitple new fires today, from the lightning yesterday.

Also...what's up with the video of the Los Alamos scientist? He says the land managers aren't doing it right. Then says how it should be done....but the funny thing is....THATS HOW THEY (WE) HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS!!! Thanks Mr. smarty pants scientist guy.
Now I'd like to tell you how to run your nuclear lab.

josh
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520
J. Thompson wrote: It might seem like it is, but it's not. Iy's just not in it's burn hours yet. During the night the relative Temps go down and The Relative humidity comes up, when that happens fires TYPICALLY (not always) lay down and don't burn very actively. The typical "Burn period" is from 10am to 7PM, Thats when the temps are at there highest and the RH is at its lowest.
I was wondering why the coals I was seeing last night in Queens Canyon were just smoldering and not flaming up. So the humidity does that? Wow. No wonder it's such a pain in the ass to get a campfire to stay lit late at night.
J. Thompson · · denver, co · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,425

Relative Humdity is a HUGE factor in how intense fires burn.
So important in fact while on the fireline someone is designated to "sling" weather every so often (and for the fires that are going right now I'd personally want someone doing weather every 15 mins).

Using a sling cycometer(sp?) you can put the data into a chart an get the RH for the exact area you are working in. keeping track and charting it's daily drops and how that relates to fire activity is an extemely useful tool for the crews on the fireline.
If I was on a hand crew on one of these fires, I'd set a trigger point at about 9% RH. When the RH gets there I'd be very ready to disengage and bail to a safety zone. Thats doesn't mean the fire isn't going to get up and dance before that...but single digits, especially in CO, gets pretty grim.
RH's have been hitting 5%.

josh

John Keller · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2001 · Points: 5

J Thompson, nice descriptions of how fires burn and how the conditions and time of day generally effect them. You're exactly correct.

The point my dad is making is that we only have a few planes and helos and they can't fight the fire at night, which is when you point out correctly that the fire is at it's lowest. So no, we have not been fighting fires at night with air equipment. We also don't fight them with enough air equipment. Dad has been researching this for a decade now since the Los Alamos fire 12 years ago along with lots of other folks from the finest research institution on the planet (not just a nuc lab). As he indicates, they've been gathering a lot of information on what could be done and how it could affect fires. For example, if we had several dozen planes that could dump as much as the biggest of the current ancient ones and used the available technology and infrastruction to fly them over night, they could put enough water on bear peak to have put the fire out. Not contained or slowed or whatever, but actually put it out, like a big rain storm could. I totally agree that the crews do amazing work but when the wind is pushing it, as you indicate, there is nothing they can do but get the hell out of the way. We have not yet been fighting fire using our best techniques and technologies. We put human at increadible risks for very little effective return. It sucks. We can do better.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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