Evacuation Planning (Or Not) Story in Colorado Springs Gazette


Yes, we can get everyone out of the West, I think, and I hope there will be enough time for climate change to return to the “natural” regimes that are banned by climate change, but that doesn’t seem very real. Other people are working to rehabilitate and relocate their communities.

People who have seen Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colorado, have noticed what seems to be a tension between current urban / suburban planning (deep congestion and public transportation) and wildfires (to evacuate various homes and private cars). Meanwhile, people like to live where they live. This extensive article from the Colorado Springs Gazette discusses efforts to better plan wildfires and discuss mitigation measures. To my surprise, oil refineries do not seem to be controversial here .. One thing is that the wood industry does not create a good enemy, and most of these projects are on private forest land.

There is little interest in this article. I think you can get it here for free, but if not, please let me know. You can also find it here. It is interesting to note how this reporter distinguishes “balanced” when discussing climate change and fires.

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As a measure of forest fires, it is estimated that an area may be engulfed in wildfires, but the “exposure” of wildfires, regardless of where they occur, indicates where the risk of wildfire conflicts with communities.

Evergreen is at high risk in the Rocky Mountain region of the five-state forest service. The second and third most dangerous areas in the region are the planning zones that cover the rest of the front line between Evergreen and Colorado Springs. The most dangerous areas in El Paso County include Manito Springs, Register, northeast of the Garden of the Gods, and Broadmore. Although their population is small, some pockets close to Boulder and Fort Collins pose a serious threat to Estes Park and Creep Creek and northern Lyon.

Evergreen limited routes

Geospatial route data from the U.S. Census Bureau, combined with information from Open Street Maps, show that more than 35,000 residents – not counting seasonal or weekend visitors – have a few possible evacuation routes in the state’s most vulnerable Evergreen. Depending on the location of the fire and the nature of the future, place the number of people on the streets of Paradise California, where the residents of Paradise California were burned in their car. Estimates of overcrowding indicate that a total of 60,000 people have been displaced.

The Fast Local Emergency Evacuation Times Model (FLEET), administered by Old Dominion University in Virginia, simulates a long-term evacuation of parts of the state that are prone to wildfires.

Roxborough Park and Woodland Park are not far behind Evergreen for computerized release times or simple people.

“There’s a lot of awareness about wildfires here,” said Chuck Newby, a resident of South Ever Green.

His conversations with other residents were about repeated evictions.

Newbie: “Do you have people who ask what happens after you see Camp Fire, East Trouble, Marshall, these big fires? What would happen if this happened? What was I doing?

An afternoon riot, an earthquake, and a chainsaw collided with Rich Mankuso’s home in the Eco Hills neighborhood in the middle of June Green.

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As LAM Tree Service Guy Ezra von prepares for a pine tree to fall on the property of wealthy Mankusso and Debbie Pasco, bucket truck operator Tyler Ingbritson and Forman Elias Sirna are pulling the rope attached to the tree on Thursday, June 2, 2022. Evergreen, Colo. (Timothy Horst / The Denver Newspaper)

Mankusso, who grew up in Staten Island, NY and moved to Evergreen in the 1980s, saw workers from the Cattle Tree Service strategically cutting down trees and preparing to dump them.

Mankuso said he was thinning the property to protect his homeowners’ insurance, after the agent told him about the company’s new firefighting process in a high-risk area.

“They told us to work or they would cancel our policy,” said Mankuso.

The science of reducing plant exposure to fire reflects the natural cycle of wildfires and provides a mirror for firefighting, which has been rampant in the West for more than a century.

Without human intervention, wildfires burn in the forest, destroying seedlings, but conserving large and ancient trees, rejuvenating the soil, clearing and strengthening the bark of large trees, and producing new seeds. Root. The Sparzer Forest in the background is generally healthy, and is more susceptible to large-scale wildfires in the forest rather than on land.

In the western United States, however, long-term forest management has created more dense forests than natural ones, making fires more intense and difficult to fight.

Forest management practices have begun to allow the natural fire cycle to work, but it is estimated that millions of hectares of forests in the western US will need to see small fires that restore forest health. Balance – a dangerous prospect, to make the forest more efficient and burn, because of past wrong policies.

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And quote from FS retired Bernie Weingard

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The Evergreen Fire Protection District’s Field Fire Protection Plan, which was revised in 2020, will include road analysis.

Bernie Weingardt, a 37-year-old resident of Ever Green in the United States Forest Service, told him and other residents what he had long suspected.

“They put the images on it, and in Evergreen, you can see that it stumbles very quickly,” says Wingard. “Like here on a regular day, with daily traffic, cars are supported at major intersections. Thus, small entrances to the main arteries, grids are closed, and traffic is diverted to neighborhoods.

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Dense forests are located on Colorado Road 73, south of Creek Road, Saturday, June 18, 2022, at Evergreen, Colo (Timothy Hurst / The Denver Gazette).

Traffic-pattern analysis indicates that traffic congestion is likely to occur, indicating the capacity of the road and the number of people who may be displaced.

“If there is a lot of congestion and unsafe roads in one place, there is a serious risk to safety,” says the plan.

Camp Fire Paradise, California Destroyed The plan is a striking example of such a situation:

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