Colorado is on fire. That's what Governor Owens says. I'm starting to believe him. Southwest of Denver 40,000 people are going to be evacuated from their homes. Why? Because a 65,000 acre forest fire is threatening the Denver Metro area. The fire is being whipped by the wind, and is racing across the foothills, consuming between 600 and 1,000 acres per hour. The smoke plumes can be seen from orbit. Smoke and ash are blanketing the area. We even have them in Longmont, a good 50 miles or more north of the blaze. Luckily the wind has started pushing the fire back on itself.
This is crucial because the fire is too unpredictable for firefighters to do more than nip at the edges with firebreaks and trenches. The air tankers can't fly due to the smoke and the winds. Basically anything in the path of the fire is toast. And the Hayman fire isn;t the only conflagration in the state. An old coal fire speard to the forest near Glenwood Springs, some lighting started another fire. Right now there are five such fires in Colorado, but the Hayman fire is definitely the largest.
Of course, it could have been prevented. It should have been prevented. You see, it was started by an illegal campfire. That's right illegal. Against the law. Shouldn't have been there. Even lighting a campfire could land you in jail. Smoking outside an enclosed area can get you fined.
Colorado is in the worst drought in recorded history. Fire restrictions, basically everything but propane grills, have been well publicized. This should be basic stuff. But it isn't for some people. They just don't get it. I blame Governor Owens, at least in part. More on that later.
The last big fire was caused by a carelessly used charcoal grill. A carelessly used, illegally operated, charcoal grill. The Hayman fire was started by some campers who thought that having a campfire was more important that obeying the law, or the possibility of starting a forest fire. I guess the homes and businesses of 40,000 people were worth a few hours a firelight instead of a cold camp.
Strangely, both the backyard chef, and the campers feel persecuted because the media is making them look like idiots. Maybe that's because they are. Criminals, too. They just don't think they've done anything wrong. They just drove thousands from their homes, destroyed property, wasted tax-payer money, and broke the law. No harm, no foul, right?
I suppose that people from out of state may not be able to understand the conditions here right now. Maybe drought just doesn't conjure the proper image. Just for kicks, here's some other descriptions of conditions here: dry, dusty, hot, tinder-box, dust bowl. All of these descriptions have been in the media here.
Appearances may be a bit deceiving. We have thunderstorms where the rain evaporate a few hundred feet above the ground. There are areas that appear lush and green from a distance. Of course, most of the creeks and streams are almost dry. The rivers are low. Reservoirs, lakes, and ponds are drying out.
I went camping myself last weekend with a large group. We were less than twenty miles south of where the Hayman fire is now. The pine needles on the ground were so dry that they crumbled when touched. The dust came up in plumes when you walked. We had no fires, no kerosene lanterns, propane only for cooking. Some Forest Service Rangers came by and asked the smokers to smoke only in the dust circle around the main firepit. Fire danger was obvious.
And yet, someone in the group still used charcoal. We found the live coals in the fire pit as we were getting ready to leave. We noticed that the fire pit radiated a lot of heat, and wondered why. It ended up taking 10-15 gallons of water to put the coals, which had been going all day, out.
Idiots. Imbeciles. Self-absorbed cretins.
Of course, the Governor hasn't helped much. In many areas of Colorado lawn watering and car washing are almost non-existant, and yet, he wanted to leave the question of fireworks under local control. That's right. You can't smoke a cigarette outside your car, but he wanted to let every town, village, and county to decide on their own whether people should be allowed to use fireworks. My guess is that he didn't want to take the heat for making a decision.
Today, he saw the light and banned personal fireworks for the summer. I'm thinking he should ban the professional displays, too.
Of course, his delay on this allowed those who wanted to believe that things weren't so bad, to delude themselves into starting a campfire that the entire state gets to enjoy now. All because his conservative Republican ideology told him that centralized government shouldn't interfere. My thought is this: if he really believes that, why did he request federal drought assistance? Why are we having state and federal firerighters fight the fires? Should the local communities be allowed to formulate their own firefighting plans?
Of course not. Just like he should have had the cajones to ban fireworks a month ago.
Posted by Chris at June 10, 2002 01:43 PM