Tribune TRILAKES 1/2/13
Tri-Lakes
January 2, 2013
Free
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtrilakesnews.com
Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County • Volume 10, Issue 1
Residents part of wildfire solution Fire season year round in Tri-Lakes area By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews.com Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District Fire Marshal John Vincent said wildfire season is a year-round problem for Tri-Lakes residents. To help local property owners become part of the wildfire solution instead of part of the problem, Vincent has created “Ready, Set, Go: Your Personal Wildfire Action Plan,” a pamphlet that will be available at the district office and on the website, www.trilakesfire.com. The new pamphlet starts out with the reason for its existence. It states: “During a major wildfire, there simply will not be enough fire engines or firefighters to defend every home, so residents must become part
of the solution.” It explains that people whose homes are within a mile of a natural area live in what firefighters call the Wildland Urban Interface and “The Ember Zone” where winddriven embers from a wildfire can ignite their homes. “The recent Waldo Canyon Fire resulted in entire neighborhoods destroyed by fires started by embers, not by the wildfire itself,” the pamphlet states. It also says that people often build homes without understanding how their vulnerability to wildfires is affected by their choices of construction and landscaping materials. “It’s not a question of if, but when the next wildfire will occur in the Tri-Lakes area,” the pamphlet states. “That’s why the most important person protecting your life and property is you. With advance planning and preparation, you can dramatically increase your safety and the survivability of your property.” After the introduction, the pamphlet ex-
plains concepts such as creating “defensible space” and a “hardened home,” a home that could survive a wildfire. The most vulnerable part of the construction is the roof, especially roof valleys, rain gutters and the open ends of barrel tiles. Open eaves and vents, windows and doors and balconies and decks are also places where embers can start fires. Suggestions for mitigating these dangers are included El Paso County building codes do not require residential fire sprinkler systems but installing such systems during construction is something Vincent has been advocating for more than a year. Such a system could extinguish or contain an ember-caused fire and keep residents safer from fires that ignite inside the home from other causes, he states in the pamphlet. Another thing he is seriously advocating is making sure house numbers are clearly visible from the street. As he has said previously, finding a
house on fire is relatively easy; just follow the smoke, but finding a home where the homeowner is having a heart attack isn’t so easy. About 80 percent of calls to fire departments are medical rather than fire related. The final part of the pamphlet covers evacuations, complete with checklists, on when to go, where to go and what to take along. It’s always best to be ready to go before it becomes necessary. “By leaving early, you give your family the best chance of surviving a wildfire,” the pamphlet states. “You also help firefighters by keeping roads clear of congestion, enabling them to move freely and do their job.” The pamphlet also points out that wildfire mitigation work can sometimes result in tax credits. For information on all kinds of tax credits, visit www.taxcolorado.com. For more information on wildfire mitigation, call the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District headquarters at 719484-0911.
Sales up for local merchants Retailers nationwide didn’t get the increase in sales they were expecting By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com
Frost and some snow collected in the Tri-Lakes area over the Holiday, though much of it was melted by Thursday, Dec. 27. Photo by Rob Carrigan
Tri-Lakes region saw snow on Christmas day Some dreamt of a white Christmas and woke up to one By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews. com Weather predictions were right and some parts of the Pikes Peak region saw a white Christmas. A winter storm carrying pacific moisture hit the mountains and the Front Range and brought anywhere from two to four inches to the Tri-Lakes area. Monument received about 2.8 inches of snow while east of Monument saw 3.4 inches. The Colorado Department of Transportation and El Paso County were ready for the storm with CDOT having 3035 snow plows working roads beginning at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve in El Paso and Teller counties and in some sections of Douglas County.
Frost and snow combined for fuzzy trees on Chistmas day, and the following morning, in most of Northern El Paso County. El Paso County had 35 trucks out. Snow began falling Christmas Eve and a majority of the snow fell overnight. According to Rachel Plath, meteorologist with KRDO News 13, a lot of people have different definitions of a white Christmas but the National Weather Service defines a white Christmas as having
at least one inch of the snow on the ground by midnight Christmas Eve and there has to be another half-inch falling from midnight to midnight on Dec. 25. “That would constitute it as a white Christmas. And even though some places woke up to a dusting of snow that’s not technically a white Christmas.
But Monument is one of those areas that did qualify for the scientific definition of having a white Christmas,” Plath said. Colorado Springs and much of the Pikes Peak region have not seen a white Christmas since 1987. There are no records for the Tri-Lakes area. Plath said the same storm that hit Colorado was responsible for the severe weather that occurred from Louisiana to Georgia. According to the Weather Channel at least 34 tornadoes hit the Southern states and at least nine inches of snow fell in Little Rock. The Midwest saw blizzard conditions and up to a foot was expected in parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The storm is known as Winter Storm Euclid as winter storms are now being named as hurricanes are. The Tri-Lakes region woke up to fog and frozen trees the day after Christmas.
While retail sales weren’t as high as expected nationwide merchants in downtown Monument saw an increase in sales during the holidays. “Sales we’re great for us. We were over than last year,” Donna Townsend, employee at The Village Merchants, said. Kathi Schuler, owner of The Love Shop, said she saw an increase in sales over last year as well. “Ours was really good. It was better than last year. We were super busy every day,” Schuler said. While holiday sales may have seen a boost locally analysts reported that nationwide retail sales didn’t increase as much as expected and sales were their weakest since 2008 when the nation was in a deep recession. According to the MasterCard Advisors Spending Report which was released Dec. 25, the sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods increased by only 0.7 percent from Oct. 28 to Dec. 24, compared to a two percent increase last year. Sales were expected to increase by three or four percent. The report looked at all payment methods. Analysts blamed bad weather, such as Super Storm Sandy, and the threat of an impending tax hike for the weak sales. Even the presidential election was blamed for weak sales in early November. However Schuler, who has been in business for 25 years, said despite the presidential election many people locally decided to forge ahead and spend money. Covered Treasures Bookstore also saw an increase in sales this holiday season. “We had a really good season,” Paula Primavera, employee at Covered Treasures, said. Online sales grew 8.4 percent and saw a slight increase after the Midwest was hit by a recent snowstorm but online sales only make-up 10 percent of all holiday sales.
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