Colorado is Closed

[Pete]

My B-I-L lives in a canyon out west of Dever that hasn't burned in years.

Frame house with pines coming right up into the yard.

Still wondering why nobody has come up with a bio-degradable 55 gal drum set up that you could hook up to your garden hose and spray out an expanding fire resistant foam that would harden up something like styrofoam.

Spray the house and go somewhere safe until the fire passes by - then kinda' chip the cover off the house.

I've got a picture in my mind of a house looking like the top of a meringue pie.

Buy it and keep it in the garage until needed.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Pete

Still wondering why nobody has come up with a bio-degradable 55 gal drum set up that you could hook up to your garden hose and spray out an expanding fire resistant foam that would harden up something like styrofoam.

Spray the house and go somewhere safe until the fire passes by - then kinda' chip the cover off the house.

I've got a picture in my mind of a house looking like the top of a meringue pie.

Buy it and keep it in the garage until needed.

They do. I bought this gel system for our new place: http://www.geltechsolutions.com/fire...it&subsiteid=2

Promo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hekR5pz-RIo

More videos: http://www.geltechsolutions.com/fireice/videos.aspx

I consider it cheap insurance since we live in the middle of nowhere on a road the firefighters don't have in their database, yet. We are clearing the brush from around the house as I type this. "Be prepared!"

Pat

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by Pete

My B-I-L lives in a canyon out west of Dever that hasn't burned in years.

Frame house with pines coming right up into the yard.

Still wondering why nobody has come up with a bio-degradable 55 gal drum set up that you could hook up to your garden hose and spray out an expanding fire resistant foam that would harden up something like styrofoam.

Spray the house and go somewhere safe until the fire passes by - then kinda' chip the cover off the house.

I've got a picture in my mind of a house looking like the top of a meringue pie.

Buy it and keep it in the garage until needed.

I was actually thinking of your B-I-L when the Lower North Fork fire was going last month. I knew they had set up the shelter area in Conifer, around where your family is.

That was one crazy fire. The BLM did a control burn 3-4 days before the fire took off. They had crews out watching the area afterwards, but then we had on day of 60mph winds (gusting to 75-80mph) and found some embers and just ignited that while area.

What do you expect .... One of the three greatest lies ever told .... "I'm from the government, I'm here to help."

Glad to hear they made it through that one okay.

[MR2]

Originally Posted by Pete

Spray the house and go somewhere safe until the fire passes by - then kinda' chip the cover off the house.

I've got a picture in my mind of a house looking like the top of a meringue pie.

Apparently a former fire chief living in Aurora, CO (East of Denver) had the same idea about five years ago. There was a fast moving prairie fire that was sweeping the plains out that way and he called up the local sales rep for this GelTech company. They did his house just in time and the fire swept by, over, around his house. The house survived. The insurance company was very pleased. They only had to pay for smoke damage. Unfortunately, nothing could be done with the pervasive odor and dangerous gasses of the gel.

I understand that he ended up having to demolish the house and build anew.

Cavet emptor

[PSM]

Originally Posted by MR2

Apparently a former fire chief living in Aurora, CO (East of Denver) had the same idea about five years ago. There was a fast moving prairie fire that was sweeping the plains out that way and he called up the local sales rep for this GelTech company. They did his house just in time and the fire swept by, over, around his house. The house survived. The insurance company was very pleased. They only had to pay for smoke damage. Unfortunately, nothing could be done with the pervasive odor and dangerous gasses of the gel.

I understand that he ended up having to demolish the house and build anew.

Cavet emptor

Hmmm. Thanks for the heads-up. GelTech did send two test/practice bottles of the gel for use in a 2.5 gal. PWC. I guess I'd better do just that.

Pat

[Pete]

Originally Posted by PSM

Hmmm. Thanks for the heads-up. GelTech did send two test/practice bottles of the gel for use in a 2.5 gal. PWC. I guess I'd better do just that.

Pat

Got an old storage building you can practice on?

We were out doing some work in CA near San Luis Obispo in 1994 when the mountains just north of us caught fire. I sat up on top of a small mountain watching the fire on the backside of the mountain (Hill) range on the other side of the valley.

TV pictures of a wild fire racing up a canyon do not do it justice. You can not judge the scale of the fire.

As I watched the fire near the ridge line the flames were racing far above it hundreds of feet into the air.

Needless to say I was amazed at that force of nature.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Pete

Got an old storage building you can practice on?

No, but we have lots of leftover building supplies from our recent construction, so I can knock together a "doghouse" or something. I've got Cold Fire® in the PWC now. I don't want to waste it, but I guess if I turn it upside down I'll be able to de-pressure it without wasting much, if any.

Pat

[TOMAHAWK9521]

Originally Posted by twistedsquid

we are in berthoud...can smell the fires and see the blaze...evacuation orders issued to over 2000 homes...seems to be concentrated in rist canyon...great pics tomahawk...here's the dilemma...if its the result of a lightening strike is it ok? campfire or cigarette no...

The official determination that I have read is that it came from a lightning strike early Saturday morning. I guess the strike created a small 2-acre fire and then it grew to roughly 50 by 0800 on Saturday. By Saturday evening it was up to 8K acres. By noon Sunday, it was over 14K. Sunday night, more than double that. At last check it was still in the low 40K.

I met a family at the reservoir when I was taking pictures who were telling me they witnessed the fire from atop Horsetooth Mtn on Saturday. They said it was a small fire putting up a thin column of smoke and then "bam" it went into firestorm mode. I've never seen it myself, but I understand that an exploding pine tree is something incredible to witness. That's what this family saw. They said it was incredible and alarming to watch.

I watched some of the ridges above the some residences up at the north end of the reservoir suddenly flare up along with individual trees that burned like candles in the distance.

With the massive beetle kill that has swept all along the Rocky Mtn states, not just Colorado, some forestry folks' "worst-case scenario" is that if the winds continue like they are, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that this sucker could scorch everything between Ft Collins and the Canadian border. I do know that if this fire or another one pops up further south, it will likely wipe out Rocky Mountain National Park and the whole Grand Lake valley. Lots of elk steaks will be made on the hoof if that happens.

What will make matters worse is when cooler weather rolls around again and we see a lot of precipitation. I saw that while guiding for an outfitter in '94 after the fire on Storm King Mtn above Glennwood Spgs. The fire took place in the summer and we had some cooler weather move in a couple months later, bringing a lot of rain with it. The boss had driven down I-70 with a trailer full of horses and just gotten down to the ranch out west of Glennwood when his daughter called to say she couldn't get through due to a massive mud slide. It turns out that the rock/mud slide had just missed him by a few minutes before it wiped out the South Canyon area of I-70 just west of Glennwood Spgs.

[TOMAHAWK9521]

Here are some pictures of the evening sun that I don't normally see.

I told the cute little hippie chick that I would try and Photoshop in a spear and shield in her hands or maybe 2-3 little dragons perched on her shoulders to make that last picture more eye-catching.

[lksteve]

I live in Fort Collins, have an office in Evans (when I'm not in Wyoming or Montana or Utah or...). The drive to work is pretty interesting. Normally, I have the sun in my face. The last few days, it's been a dim, red ball on the horizon. It's pretty bleak.

The pictures of Horsetooth are pretty amazing. One of my favorite places to go.

It's going to be a long, hot summer, I fear.

[TOMAHAWK9521]

Well, the High Park fire has now consumed 248 homes and covers roughly 85,000 acres at last estimate.

The more recent blaze down by CO SPGS is doing some major damage as well. I think it was something like 11,000 residents and summer travelers had to be evacuated from their homes, hotels, cabins, etc. Oddly enough, Michelle Malkin and her family are among the evacuees.

A fire broke out in Estes Park this past weekend, destroying multiple cabins and other structures. I don't know if they have that one contained. If not, kiss Rocky Mountain National Park, as you know it, goodbye.

I've also come across some odd internet chatter about rumors of arsonists may be responsible for some of these blazes. I'm trying to remember where I read the statement but one account claims to have seen a guy toss a propane tank out into the woods and detonate by rifle fire before racing off in his truck.

A bit of sad irony: The news reported the house across the road from the Picnic Rock Day Use Site up in Poudre Canyon has been destroyed by the fire. That house belonged to the guy who started the Picnic Rock Fire in Poudre Canyon in the spring of 2005. I remember that being a very dry spring and, with the winds blowing through the canyon, that fire flew up the sides of the canyon and surrounding areas and cost a fortune to contain. If I recall, the county used most of its budget on that one fire and it was only the first fire of the season. It was easy to determine where the fire started. The guy was illegally burning trash and dead vegetation and the winds took it from there, leaving a big black arrow pointing straight back to his house.

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521

A fire broke out in Estes Park this past weekend, destroying multiple cabins and other structures. I don't know if they have that one contained. If not, kiss Rocky Mountain National Park, as you know it, goodbye.

I've also come across some odd internet chatter about rumors of arsonists may be responsible for some of these blazes. I'm trying to remember where I read the statement but one account claims to have seen a guy toss a propane tank out into the woods and detonate by rifle fire before racing off in his truck.

I worked a horse show this past weekend just south of Lyons, and the smoke from the Estes Park fire made it down to us on Saturday. Not a good time for both riders and horses.

I spoke with a guy who worked with Left Hand Fire Dept. and was up in Estes. He said that that one was mainly contained to structures in the town. The fire kept jumping from roof top to roof top because the residence up there DIDN'T clean out their gutters of dead pine needles and pine cones, so the embers just kept jumping. They had it contained fairly well to just the structures, but those home owners near sightedness of NOT cleaning out their gutters cost them.

This guy also said that these fires have been suspicious in nature as well. He had said there was a theory that it was someone in an aircraft dropping incendiaries. That's a bit of stretch IMO, but it is some what plausible seeing the remoteness of these fires.

Someone got a picture of both the High Park fire and the one in Estes Park from atop of Long's Peak. I'll see if I can track it down and post it up.

[Sdiver]

Here's a couple of pictures I grabbed from The Denver Channel News dot com FB page.

The first one shows both the High Park and Estes Park fires taken from on top of Long's Peak in RMNP on Saturday, the second is the structures that were burning in Estes Park.

[afchic]

Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521

Well, the High Park fire has now consumed 248 homes and covers roughly 85,000 acres at last estimate.

The more recent blaze down by CO SPGS is doing some major damage as well. I think it was something like 11,000 residents and summer travelers had to be evacuated from their homes, hotels, cabins, etc. Oddly enough, Michelle Malkin and her family are among the evacuees.

A fire broke out in Estes Park this past weekend, destroying multiple cabins and other structures. I don't know if they have that one contained. If not, kiss Rocky Mountain National Park, as you know it, goodbye.

I've also come across some odd internet chatter about rumors of arsonists may be responsible for some of these blazes. I'm trying to remember where I read the statement but one account claims to have seen a guy toss a propane tank out into the woods and detonate by rifle fire before racing off in his truck.

A bit of sad irony: The news reported the house across the road from the Picnic Rock Day Use Site up in Poudre Canyon has been destroyed by the fire. That house belonged to the guy who started the Picnic Rock Fire in Poudre Canyon in the spring of 2005. I remember that being a very dry spring and, with the winds blowing through the canyon, that fire flew up the sides of the canyon and surrounding areas and cost a fortune to contain. If I recall, the county used most of its budget on that one fire and it was only the first fire of the season. It was easy to determine where the fire started. The guy was illegally burning trash and dead vegetation and the winds took it from there, leaving a big black arrow pointing straight back to his house.

I talked to my parents last night and they said Manitou has been evacuated along with some other nearby towns. Highway 24 is closed. It is so sad that the fire is in Waldo Canyon. Some of my best memories from growing up are hiking there with my dad.

Prayers out to everyone having to deal with all of this.

[DIYPatriot]

Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521

A fire broke out in Estes Park this past weekend, destroying multiple cabins and other structures. I don't know if they have that one contained. If not, kiss Rocky Mountain National Park, as you know it, goodbye.

I spent the last week of April in the Estes/Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park area with a buddy of mine from Arvada. We made plans for me to head back in Sept. I am sick over this. That place is God's country. Best wishes and prayers out to all of you.