Hello all --

Article: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/c...ar-fort-collins


Still lurking, but thought I'd mention some things that I'd not thought of in terms of wildfire, but are affecting myself and friends/family at the moment.


1) Our watershed is going to be fairly contaminated. Already one source of water, the Poudre river, has had its power knocked out, and the mountain reservoirs are going to get silted up so it may overload treatment plants. http://www.coloradoan.com/viewart/201206...s-water-quality

2) Communications. Many towers are on ridges in the foothills. One radio station, KUNC, lost power on Sunday and several cell towers are threatened: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/06/10/high-park-fire-continues-to-grow-1-confirmed-missing/

3) Possibility of evacuation orders being miss-communicated or overlooked. One person lost their life, possibly due to being in a cabin on their property instead of in the main house that had reverse 911. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/31181910/detail.html Many summer cabins do not have phones at all.

4) Smoke. It's quite thick and traveling much further than one would suspect. It's a very large fire, and people with asthma or other conditions are wearing bandanas and face masks. It's causing headaches and other problems even for people who aren't normally over-sensitive to smoke, because it's been several days' worth.

5) The danger of long hikes into the backcountry. Two of us were hiking just south of this fire when it first occurred, and we didn't know the scope of it until we'd returned to town. Several other hikers were in its path and narrowly escaped: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/31178399/detail.html


There's more I'd like to add, but I have to go for now. Feel free to add more info about this situation, or add links to other places on the forum that discuss large wildfires.

My contingency plan for encountering a wildfire while hiking or camping consists of "Flee, upwind if possible." Implicit in that contingency plan is having the appropriate navigation capability to execute it.

What am I missing?

How close is the fire? Assuming it's not right on top of you, you often have to only travel a couple miles to exit the danger area. If your vehicle is downwind and not that far, that could be the better bet to escape the path of the fire.

If the wind shifts, "upwind" could suddenly be downwind for the fire, especially if you haven't that far upwind, say, in rugged terrain. Like here in California, you can have an onshore breeze during the day as the ground heats up, but then the wind shifts to the opposite direction as the sun goes down.

I guess it all depends on the situation.

I experienced that here in California during one big wildfire upwind of me. Even wearing an N95 mask and staying indoors as much as possible, I still eventually almost had an asthma attack after being enveloped in smoke for many days straight. Bandanas and cheap paper masks aren't going to do much. It's the super fine particles that you really need to worry about and those will go right through and leak around those barriers.

People with heart trouble need to be careful, too. Smoke and toxic gases like carbon monoxide can put an extra strain on your heart, even if you're not exerting yourself.

Stay safe!

My daughter is up there. Living on the eastern edge of Horsetooth reservoir in the northern part of Ft. Collins, the fire being on the west side of the reservoir. Luckily she doesn't have much in the way of belongings (being a college student there), but she has the important stuff already loading in her car for potential evacuation. It is doubtful that the fire will cross over to where she is without a massive battle being raged by firefighters, because it's heavily populated with homes (suburban area, not sparse mountain homes). Still, she's ready to leave quickly if required.

Hi Haertig -- We're on the southeast side of the reservoir, ourselves. I agree, it's doubtful that the fire would be able to cross into heavily defended, well-watered neighborhoods. That said, we've got things ready just in case.

Arney -- Asthma? Ugh! Sounds like it was awful. Thankfully the smoke has shifted from this morning so we can breathe a little bit easier for the moment...

ChaosMagnet -- Given the crazy, irrational behavior of the fire that day, I've no idea what we could've done had it come our way all of a sudden.

I forgot to add that I haven't had an asthma attack in 20 years, so the smoke was definitely creating new health problems. By the time I finally went to the doctor on day 6 after the fire started, the skies had cleared, although when you checked the air quality numbers, the air was still laden with a lot of particulates. So just because the air looks clear doesn't mean that it's safe to breathe.

Thanks for the reminder, Arney. I've been having a bit of trouble breathing the last hour or so, because I was out doing some yard work.

According to AIRNow.gov, the local Air Quality Index is currently rated at 156 (Unhealthy) with a statement says, "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion."

If everyday yard work is heavy exertion, then I need to get into better shape!

I was considering going for a hike on Sunday, the day after the fire started but decided that if things developed too quickly my choice of location could wind up being trapped.


Being aware of fire danger of being trapped in a dead-end road and paying attention to smoke sight or smell is about all you can do when in the woods.

I get out of the smoke and get a great look at the smoke from a distance on my daily commute.

Best wishes for not suffering from any of it.

Listening to the air tankers in the battle on my scanners. Valiant battle. Probably even more valiant on the ground (where I can't hear their radios)

Probably a good decision. Even if you're not in any danger from flames, the air quality could make a hike rather unpleasant, even if the skies look clear to the eye where you are.