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Courier-ViewPikes Peak
ourtellercountynews.com
July 4, 2012 75 centsA Colorado Community Media Publication
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 51, Issue 27
Local firefighters help hold the lineMore 2,000 `boots on the ground’ surrounding Waldo Canyon FireBy Norma [email protected]
Waldo Fire Incident Commander Rich Harvey said there are 1,200 firefighters from all over the country now working the Waldo Canyon Fire, along with more than 800 local firefighters.
“We have a lot of assets,” he said. “They come with wheels, tracks, wings, rotors, boots, pens, modems, you name it. We use the right tool for the right job.”
At the June 28 morning update, fire of-ficials said they are hoping for a better day. For the first time the weather might be co-operating a little in this fire. For the first time since it started on June 23, there are no Red Flags for fire danger anywhere in the area.
The estimate of 18,500 acres was con-firmed by infrared photography and fire crews have been able to get into neighbor-hoods to tackle hot spots.
In Teller County the containment line that was built by firefighters and the U.S. Army has held. Most of Woodland Park re-mains evacuated as a precaution.
At the Woodland Park June 28 daily briefing, Mayor Dave Turley said he has driven the fire’s entire Teller County perim-eter with city public works Director William Alspach and Northeast Teller County Fire Chief Tyler Lambert. Turley said there is a lot of equipment working on at least their third contingency line between U.S. 24 and Rampart Reservoir.
“Helicopters are making drops in Sand Gulch and we also watched a C-130 make a drop,” he said. “Things look better at the top of Rampart Range Road. That fire isn’t going to cross Rampart Range. Seeing all this makes me feel a lot better.”
City Manager David Buttery said at
the daily meeting that some businesses located within the mandatory evacuation have been asked to remain open, including grocery stores, gas stations and phar-macies. Also Pikes Peak Re-gional Hospital emergency room is open and Peak Vista Health Clinic in Divide is open to both those who are registered with the clinic and those who aren’t. No ap-pointments are necessary.
Mario Madrid, Woodland Park Post Master, said that starting June 28 customers who live in the pre-evacu-ation area will continue to receive their mail at home. Those who get home delivery and live in mandatory evacu-ation area can pick it up at the Divide Post Office. All post-office box mail that comes in after June 17 will go to Divide. Mail already in PO boxes will remain there. He added that all outgoing mail should also be taken to Divide. “Mail will not be picked up at drop off boxes,” he said.
Colorado Department of Transportation has announced that U.S. 24 will likely remain closed through the weekend and that the situation will be reassessed.
According to Suzanne Core in Cripple Creek, at 5 p.m. June 27, 89 people had signed nn “inside,” in the gym and caf-eteria areas. The Salvation Army Canteen had arrived and was feeding people out-side the building.
“This morning the Red Cross disaster services manager, Dennis Hoyt, said they had everythingthey needed and more,” she stated in an email. “He said, `Once we put the word out, we were inundated. The area has been fantastic’ in its com-munity support. He did also say that while he has enough volunteers through Friday, he will be able to use volunteer help Saturday and Sunday.”
Buttery said the pre-evacuation area at Tranquil Acres is CR25 not CR5, as he had stated earlier.
For more information about the Waldo Canyon Fire and other fires, check www.inciweb.org. Also, Woodland Park will con-tinue to have daily briefings everyday at 11:30 at city hall as long as necessary. These briefings are streamed online at the city website, www.city-woodlandpark.org.
As the Waldo Canyon Fire began to erupt June 26, this shot was taken from a Woodland Park resident along US 24. Parts of the city went on mandatory evacuation notice the following day, including the Pikes Peak Courier View office. Courtesy photo
By Rob [email protected]
Still on the fireline nearly a week after the first response, Cascade Vol-
unteer Fire Department Capt. Eric Eide is quick to give credit to other departments and organizations.
“I can’t emphasize enough, how important all the hand-line people,
equipment, depart-ments and incident management has been. We are very positive about what we have been able to accomplish, but all the hard work from crews from Fort Car-son, El Paso County, and many others is ex-ceptional.”
Reached at the fire-house on Thursday af-
ternoon, Eide said members of the department were feeling slightly more at ease with lower tempera-ture, moisture in the air, and other more favorable conditions.
“There is still a lot of work, but as a testament to all the help, the dis-trict is in favorable shape. Cascade, inside town, is good now.”
The forest above town looks like a dif-ficult forest fire went through, however.
Sunday night was the worst, ac-cording to his description. The de-partment continues to sleep in shifts and perform night patrols, but that is OK, he says.
“We all live here, we are volunteer. It’s personal. I guess we push ourselves.”
The Waldo Canyon fire burns over brush near Pyramid Mountain on June 24. Courtesy photo Cascade Volunteer Fire Department.
Cascade Fire Department firefighters were among the the first to respond to the Waldo Canyon fire on Saturday, June 23, and have fought it continuously since. Courtesy photos Cascade Volunteer Fire Department.
Cascade firefighters share credit
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