Wildfires 2020: One Year Later

Estes Park Trail-Gazette • Friday, October 22, 2021 • SECTION B

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Fear in the face of

FLAMES Wendy Rigby / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Smoke billows over Estes Park in a photo taken on Oct. 16, 2020.

=File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

One year ago, on Oct. 22, 2020, Estes Valley firefighters worked alongside law enforcement from the Town, County, Park, and State to notify everyone of the risk from the East Troublesome Fire and the need to start evacuating.

By Chief David Wolf, Estes Valley Fire Protection District For the Trail-Gazette

n Oct. 22, 2020, authorities launched the first full-scale evacuation of Estes Park. A double whammy of the long-burning Cameron Peak Fire and the sudden launch of the East Troublesome Fire across the Continental Divide created a scene that made the skies over Estes Park look like Armageddon.

Most of the residents knew this day might come and had prepared with “go bags” filled with personal effects, important papers, clothes and pet supplies.

As smoke filled the skies and ashes rained down, first responders sent out alerts and even went door to door in some areas to make sure people were getting out.

Firefighters and emergency personnel who stayed behind put their lives on the line trying to save the town.

Highways out of town were jam-packed with bumper-to-bumper cars heading down the canyon with children, horses and their fear in tow.

The unprecedented movement of tens of thousands of people out of the Estes Valley made world news. People from all over the nation and beyond who love Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park prayed for our town and the people who live here. They worried about the long-term impact on one of the most popular National Parks in America. They were concerned about the impact on wildlife.

In the middle of a crisis, there were acts of heroism small and large.

For instance, firefighters who were being housed at the YMCA See leaving, pg. 7B

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year of reflection provides the opportunity to look back on the events of October 2020 with a different perspective than when we were living it. For the Fire District, we entered October 2020 stretched – emotionally and physically. We had been adapting to COVID for the last seven months, evolving our response protocols to ensure we served our community while protecting our volunteers. The fire service is inherently social, so this also meant we were unable to train in person, have family gatherings, and all the normal life that we’d hope to have in a beautiful Estes Park summer.

Estes firefighters were engaged on the Cameron Peak fire from the first day it started – August 13. That Thursday night – the first night of our Fall Fire Academy – a crew of four drove up to Chambers Lake to assist in early operations on the fire.

Crews worked along Highway 14 until the fire jumped across the highway and started working south towards Comanche Peak.

While this seemed far away, there was growing concern about the lack of opportunities to stop the fire between here and Estes.

Over Labor Day weekend, Cameron Peak made a push to the south into the Cache la Poudre River towards Chapin Pass.

Fire personnel worked closely with the Incident Management Team and local emergency responders to develop plans if the fire made it into the Fall River drainage. Lines were drawn on the map on when to start evacuations of the Fall River corridor and into Town. Fortunately, an

Dealing with leaving and loss

Estes Valley Fire Protection District / Courtesy photo

EVFPD firefighters conducted a burn out operation on the end of Dunraven Glade Road that is directly next to a house.

Estes Valley Fire Protection District / Courtesy photo

On Oct. 24, 2020, everyone was called into the station for a briefing and calls were put out to our mutual aid neighbors.

early September snow put the brakes on the fire’s advance, and we all got to breath a sigh of relief. We used the next couple weeks to expand the plans and see what would ultimately hap-

pen.

In early October, Cameron Peak came back to life and started to grow. On October 14, Estes crews were called to Glen Haven to assist our neighbors with evac-

uating their community. The next 72 hours were spent on preparations for when the fire arrived, watching it march down the Miller Fork Drainage. Each day the fire was growing more than 15,000 additional acres, so everyone knew its arrival was imminent. On the morning of October 17, the fire had reached homes in The Retreat and local firefighters worked alongside those from across the country in working to save homes.

EVFPD spent a week in Glen Haven helping fight alongside our fellow responders. Even in the midst of long 16 hour days and uncertainty, it was amazing to see the spirit of the volunteers pressing on.

Great progress was made that week, and we were starting to feel good about progress on the See Fear, pg. 8B

EPH evacuation during a pandemic: Once in a lifetime?

By Gary Hall, Estes Park Health For the Trail-Gazette

cal outages, cyberattack, and more.

One silver lining of these challenges is that EPH has had to stay sharp in our The Estes community emergency management has a history of dealing with challenges, and Estes planning. Even when a natural or malicious event isn’t Park Health has been happening, we use drills through them all with all our fellow Estesians. We’ve and exercises to helpus be ready for almost anything. made it through floods, Lots of planning helped winter storms, communicaus to a sudden, but suction outages, fires, electri-

cessful, evacuation. We were planning early and often. The evacuation was the first in the history of this community hospital, and we believe it was the first valley-wide evacuation of the entire Estes community.

And this was all happening as COVID was raging throughout the country See EPH, pg. 8B

We are Mountain Strong!

On behalf of the entire Estes Valley, EPH thanks the heroic firefighters and Emergency Medical Service providers, and all the others who helped us through the fires of 2020.

555 Prospect Avenue | Estes Park | 970-586-2317 | www.eph.org

Denver Fire showed up and began watering down the hospital.

Estes Park Health Courtesy photo

Page 2B • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Estes Park Trail-Gazette

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Estes comes together at the Stanley Owner opened his doors and community came to help

By Tim Mosier Trail-Gazette

Editor’s note: This story first published on Oct. 23, 2020.

After the entire town of Estes Park was evacuated on Thursday (Oct. 22) due to the East Troublesome Fire, it was unsure if there would be any sense of community left in the town that more than 6,000 residents call home.

It has been seven years since the last major disaster struck Estes Park, and in case anyone forgot, this Town comes out swinging when the odds are stacked against it. If there was ever any doubt about how the Estes Park community =would respond to another disaster, those doubts were extinguished on Friday (Oct. 23) at the Stanley Hotel.

“When we’re required to do 110 percent, we’re there … the entire community,” said John Cullen, President of the Grand Heritage Hotel Group that owns the Stanley. “We are at our best when times are at their worst.”

When the day started, the Stanley had nine employees in Estes Park and four more were able to drive up. With little-to-no notice, Cullen and a group of good-hearted volunteers at the Stanley were able to house nearly 400 fire crew members and expect to

feed over 500.

One of the most impressive things about the group of volunteers is that not all of them are from Estes Park, or even from Colorado.

“Last night we had people from Denver, Aurora, Telluride, and just as importantly, we had people from Washington and North Dakota, and Arizona,” said Cullen. “The amount of people here that have come from the whole western region … and here they are fighting for our little town.”

The Larimer County Board of Commissioners Chairperson Steven Johnson and his partner were there making meals and working on the food line, they stayed overnight at the hotel to assist with the care of the firefighters.

“I don’t know if they are doing a breakfast or not but if they need us, we’ll be here. My bed time is 8:30 and I don’t think I’ll be making that tonight,” Johnson said with a laugh.

When asked what drew him to make the drive up to Estes to lend a hand, Johnson said it was his day off and he figured it was a good way to help out some people that are doing a lot of good in our community.

“I saw an email that John Cullen sent out that he was doing a feed here and needed some help,” Johnson said. “So, I texted him

The Stanley / Courtesy photo

With little-to-no notice, The Stanley was able to house nearly 400 fire crew members.

and told him that if he couldn’t get enough local people I can bring up some people, so I brought three people up with me.”

Estes Park High School Principal, Chuck Scott, was also there helping serve food to the over 500 fire crew members that dined at the Stanley on Friday.

“We have every room in the house tonight occupied by firefighters. We have 396, maybe 400 staying,” said Cullen. “Some of my

crossroads minsitry

Praying in a time of need

By Brian Schaffer, Crossroads Ministry of Estes Park For the Trail-Gazette

like most others, but what I didn’t realize was that the East Troublesome fire had traveled 17 miles in 90 minutes and some of the embers had jumped the 1.5 uring the third mile chasm over the Contiweek of October, 2020, =my wife and nental Divide and was now advancing with lightning I were scheduled to close speed toward the outer on a house, edge of the YMCA of the but as the Rockies. With this size of billowing fire the skies had grown smoke surrounded our dark brown with smoke, town we had ash, and soot from the thousands of trees that it a feeling it wasn’t going had burned in its path.

At 12:30 p.m., we decided to happen. to close Crossroads MinisOn Thursday, October 22, I stopped at the fire sta- try to allow staff and volunteers to prepare for evacuation around 6:30 a.m. to tion. Within an hour of this talk with the crew members who were preparing to decision the voluntary status moved to mandatory spend a 14 hour shift in for a large portion of our Glen Haven fighting the town. As you can imagine Cameron Peak fire. After there was a lot going on at leaving them I drove by Starbucks to find 8-10 fire- this time with hundreds of firefighters working hard fighters from neighboring to save our town, police states who were getting officers maintaining the their morning coffee before tackling another day peace, government officials strategizing on next steps, of hard work in the fields. and a host of support agenWhile driving away I realcies doing what they do ized more than ever that each of us has a role to play best. As Fire Chaplain for the Estes Valley Fire Proin fighting fires, but the tection District, I was given men and women on the access into a variety of situfrontlines are the ones ations where I experienced we’re most depending on firsthand the dedication to put an end to the and love that our communidestructive flames when ty servants have for the things go bad.

Estes Valley. I feel honored The day was unfolding

D

whenever I’m given the opportunity to speak to our firefighters and offer a word of prayer over them. I vividly remember praying for the safety of all first responders; especially for firefighters who marched toward the fiery inferno.

The size of this fire was larger than anyone had imagined and it would take a miracle to defeat it. Fire crews were set up at strategic locations to fight the fire and waited throughout the night and most of the next day until finally a heavy snowfall began. The snow didn’t extinguish the fire completely, but it did slow it down long enough so the evacuation order could be lifted and people could return to their homes. The fire was monitored for several days and eventually put to rest.

Crossroads Ministry restarted its Meals on Wheels delivery on the Monday following the evacuation and partnered with Mountain Home Café to cook meals until Good Sam’s kitchen was back in operation. On Wednesday we began to receive people returning to Estes Park who were in need of groceries, fuel, laundry, housing, utilities, medical, minor auto repairs, or See Praying, pg. 4B

employees checked out and are sleeping on massage beds.”

Opening the doors of one of the most iconic hotels in the world to house fire crews battling to protect the town is something that was always going to be an option and Cullen was more than happy to do it.

“I am just really grateful for someone like John Cullen who has opened up his facility here, they are very capable of handling a large

group like this,” said Johnson. “He is certainly a generous man and he is really helping our community and the fire fighters quite a bit by having this facility open for all the guys and gals here tonight.”

While the bed situation was slightly simpler, the real test came when Cullen and others tried to figure out the logistics of getting enough food to feed everyone.

“Our food service compa-

ny, Shamrock Foods, came to our rescue today,” Cullen said. “They raided the other restaurants they serve here in town and got food from them, they also got a food truck up here thanks to good emergency management by Josh at Shamrock.”

Cullen also said Loveland and Longmont Chambers of Commerce delivered food and water, as well as Swedish Hospital who See Stanley, pg. 4B

YMCA played key role in fight Facility provided space and food for hundreds of firefighters

By Wendy Rigby Trail-Gazette

Editor’s note: This article first published on Nov. 5, 2020.

For weeks, the YMCA of the Rockies fed and provided lodging and meeting space for numerous fire crews, part of a larger community effort to make sure the people defending Estes Valley homes and natural beauty were well taken care of while they were here.

“This kind of service is exactly in line with our mission and was the right thing to do,” said Lisa Eccles, Marketing and Communications Director with the YMCA of the Rockies. “Operational staff quickly shifted to move staff and resources to areas that would allow us to meet the needs of these fire crews.”

When the Cameron Peak Fire broke out in August and firefighters were mobilized to the area, Estes Park Center stepped in to house the crews beginning on Sept.

6. Initially, the YMCA pro-

HERE FOR YOU, HERE FOR ESTES PARK.

YMCA of the Rockies / Courtesy photo

A sign at the YMCA of the Rockies expressed gratitude to firefighters.

vided lodging, meals and a large number of meeting spaces for the Southwest Incident Management Team’s operations staff and firefighters, including one Type 1 team and two Type 2 teams.

The total number of people served at that time was close to 300.

Several days later, the teams rotated out and the YMCA was down to housing one team.

The bulk of the management team moved to Loveland, but left one logistics director and one operations director at the center, along with hundreds of firefighters.

At that point, the Y continued to provide lodging and meals and a few meeting rooms.

“Our seasonal and full

time staff who worked in housekeeping to prepare rooms and those who worked in food service to prepare meals were extremely eager to help in the effort,” Eccles commented. “The staff who served them reported the fire crews to be very easy to work with and extremely appreciative of the support. We are grateful to have had the room to house the fire crews and the staff to serve them.

We are forever thankful for the work they did to protect our property, its facilities and history, the Estes Park community that draws so many guests and is home to so many of our employees and the park that is a national treasure and is loved by so many.”

ESTES PARK 533 Big Thompson Ave. 970.586.8185 • bankofcolorado.com

Estes Park Trail-Gazette • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Page 3B

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Rare fog and perfectly timed storm saved Estes from ashes Nature’s random acts, aided by fire crews stop East Troublesome from engulfing town

By Tim Mosier Trail-Gazette

Editor’s note: This article first ran in the Trail-Gazette on June 18, 2021.

Last fall the Cameron Peak Fire (CPF) and the East Troublesome Fire (ETF) had Estes Park surrounded on three sides, with the ETF coming within one mile of the YMCA of the Rockies and causing a complete evacuation of the Town. Unknown to most was the fact that the fate of the town was decided over a roughly 48hour period from the night of Oct. 21 into the night of Oct. 23, 2020.

Rocky Mountain National Park Fire Management Officer Mike Lewelling believes it was the incredible work of fire crews, a rare fog bank, and a perfectly timed snow storm forming the right confluence of events that kept the ETF from burning Estes Park to the ground.

“The morning of Oct. 23, I was absolutely sure we were going to see Estes burn,” said Lewelling.

The story of the ETF in Rocky Mountain National Park is a tale of two parks.

On the east side, thanks to the National Weather Service (NWS) and the quick work for local fire crews, communities in the Estes Valley were made aware of the fire with plenty of time to evacuate and some time for crews to attempt mitigation and prevention work.

With the help of fog and the storm, those mitigation efforts were successful in saving Estes.

The west side was not afforded the luxury of time.

“They were saying they were wearing shorts and everybody was sweating and we were literally wearing puffy jackets on this side, because the fog had started freezing to the trees,” said Lewelling of speaking with park staff near the Grand Lake entrance.

The ETF started on Oct. 12, northeast of Kremmling in Grand County, and by Oct. 20 it had burned roughly 10,000 acres, causing the evacuation of approximately 90 homes.

On Oct. 21, things took a dramatic turn when the ETF ran over 18 miles in a single day, burning so incredibly hot that it bent 30-foot trees into arches.

The 100mph winds feeding the fire forced it to move so quickly that the bent trees didn’t have time to fully burn. They were heated and cooled so quickly they bent and remain bent to this day.

The peak fire spread of 87,093 acres occurred between late afternoon on Oct. 21 and the early afternoon of Oct. 22. The size of the fire exploded from 18,550 acres to 187,964 acres during that period.

“The morning of the 21st, the fire started moving really fast,” said Lewelling.

That morning the fire had spotted over Highway 125 and eventually spotted all the way to Sloopy’s Grill in Grand Lake, just outside of the RMNP’s west side boundary. That is when Grand Lake began issuing evacuations.

“It was as controlled as they could make it in that much of an emergency situation. They did not have much time,” Lewelling said.

RMNP Public Affairs Officer Kyle Patterson said park staff at the Kawuneeche Visitor’s Center and in park housing near Green Mountain, just inside the west

Bank of Colorado reflects on fire storm

By Ryan Bross, Bank of Colorado Vice President For the Trail-Gazette

Tim Mosier / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

This photo shows the burn scarring on Beaver Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park from the 2020 East Troublesome Fire.

side boundary, had roughly eight minutes to evacuate before the flames reached their doors.

“One of the things we found out … park staff is thinking they are the last ones out and they’re looking up and they see lights behind them, and somehow … I think it was a private van … was coming behind them and they actually had trees fall on their car as they were driving out,” Lewelling said. “Those people made it out, but there was no one there to find out if there are other people, are there possibly people that got trapped. That was scary.”

The morning of Oct. 22, Lewelling and other fire crews, including the Estes Valley Fire Protection District and Chief David Wolf, had a briefing sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. to discuss the CPF and ETF. At 5:30 a.m. Lewelling received a call from the NWS telling him their satellite had picked up a large heat signature to the east of the Continental Divide.

“It’s got to be kind of significant because our satellite is over the equator,” Lewelling said the NWS told him that morning.

That is when they realized the improbable had happened, the ETF had spotted the one and a half to two mile gap at 12,000 feet elevation that is the Continental Divide. The portion of the ETF that spotted over the divide is referred to as the Thompson Zone.

“I don’t think we even considered it,” Lewelling said of the jump. “It’s happened in the past, in other areas, and if it was going to happen in RMNP, that was one of the narrowest tundra gaps that we have. That was the most likely gap for it to cross but we still never expected that to happen.”

Lewelling said there was only one other time he had ever heard of the fire jumping the divide, during a fire in the San Juan Forest, where the tundra gap is much smaller.

“Once you get on the east side of the divide you get the Chinook winds that push things, and that’s where our communities are so it was a major, major concern,” said Lewelling.

Chinook winds develop when warm, moist air blows from the Pacific Ocean in the northwest of North America toward the Rocky Mountains, according to RMNP. That is where the weather played a crucial role in the sur-

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vival of the town.

“The strange thing that happened on Oct. 22 and this doesn’t happen very often … we had this crazy fog bank roll up from the plains and park itself against the Continental Divide,” Lewelling said. “There are many, many reasons why we didn’t have a crown fire going into Estes Park, but that fog bank was one of the most significant. If the fire came over the divide with the same intensity the next day with the same winds, I am confident the fire would have gone all the way through Estes Park. It went 18-20 miles the first day, so it’s not a stretch to think it would go another few miles.”

There was so much fog on morning of Oct. 22 that a 2,000-3,000 acre crown fire ignited on Mount Wuh that fire crews had no idea about until the fog lifted.

“I mean if we had a ten acre fire, we would have people from Denver calling us. So for that many acres to burn and us not know about it was crazy,” said Lewelling.

The large columns of smoke caused by the fire burning so hot on the west side, mixed with the large fog bank on the east side, created a thick haze over the Estes Valley. When the sun rose and began shining through the haze, it created an orange, apocalyptic glow that many have never seen before in Estes Park.

The first sight of that smoke is when the first evacuations in the Estes Valley began.

“On Oct. 22, I heard a lot of folks say that because of the orange glow, when they heard there was an evacuation they didn’t even ,” said Lewelling.

In most cases, the wind comes up over the divide and funnels into one of five major drainages that flow directly into town, which creates an extremely dangerous situation for the Estes Valley during wildfires to the west.

“I’ve been in the park service for a long time, I think I’ve done fires in 48 National Parks or park units and we have some of the most at-risk wildland-urban interface in the park service here in RMNP,” Lewelling said.

Chief Wolf was able to get resources from around the state moving on the fire by the night of Oct. 22.

“About 1 a.m. on Oct. 23, we’re

trying to evacuate and get people out, because about that time the fog started to lift and the weather forecast was for 50-60 mile per hour red flag winds, so the fog was going to be out of there.”

At 2 a.m. Lewelling began driving up Trail Ridge Road to get a better view of the blaze.

“The wind was blowing so hard my car was being rocked and opening my car door was a challenge without it being ripped out of my hands,” Lewelling said.

“There was a spot where I was able to look down at the confluence of Forest Canyon and Spruce Creek, and it looked Mordor … it looked like a boiling cauldron of lava … it was surreal.”

The good news that Lewelling gathered from that view is that the fire was not a moving crown fire at that point, and the fog had diminished the initial intensity of the Thompson Zone flames.

“During that night, the low relative humidity, the winds … they had to fight back the fog which happened overnight and dissipated in the middle of the night at some point and the fuel started drying out again. The fire had to rebuild its intensity.”

Another hindrance to the ETF was burn scarring left from the Fern Lake Fire in 2012, which burned incredibly hot around Cub Lake.

“It came to the Fern Lake fire scar and it had to rebuild intensity and it burnt around Cub Lake,” Lewelling said. “Cub Lake burned so hot in 2012 it wasn’t ready to burn again but to the north and to the south there was enough dead and down, and it was so dry, that the fire was able to move through and start rebuilding steam.”

In attempts to save the YMCA of the Rockies and Estes Park, at one point, fire crews planned to burn Upper Beaver Meadows, so when the fire reached the area there would be nothing left to feed it. But with such high velocity winds it was decided that the possibility of a prescribed burn in the area was too risky, and could end up actually advancing the fire by a few hours.

At roughly 8 a.m. on Oct. 23, the fire spotted over Mount Wuh, onto Steep Mountain and into Morraine Park where it burned both sides of the Big Thompson River.

See Saved, pg. 7B

Our experience at Bank of Colorado was probably similar to that of most locals. It had been a challenging time as we watched the Cameron Peak blaze creep toward Estes Park and impact our team members, friends and neighbors in Glen Haven and on Storm Mountain.

For more than a week we had been delivering food and supplies to the firefighters working the Cameron Peak area, and were in the middle of our Fill the Boot campaign to support the Glen Haven Area Volunteer Fire Department (GHAVFD) when the evacuation orders were given.

Our first priority was to make sure that everyone on our team had a place to evacuate to. Personally, I vividly remember getting a phone call telling me where to go and that no one was going to be without a place to stay.

We all stayed in constant contact with each other and our customers. We worked remotely for several days, spending our time reaching out to customers to make sure that they were safe and trying to assist them and each other where we could.

Bank of Colorado is fortunate to have an extensive branch network, so there was never a concern of our customers not being able to access their funds or transact as needed. Work that was in process continued to progress as we worked remotely through the weekend.

The bank opened again on Tuesday the 27th to a bright blue sky, sunshine and a blanket of fresh snow.

We were fortunate to all be safely together again, and continued to support the emergency personnel that had worked and continued to work so hard to protect us. Food and gift baskets were delivered to emergency responders. A personal in-person thank you was given to the Estes Valley Fire Protection District staff and volunteers at their training session in early November.

Our Fill the Boot campaign, with the generosity of our community, raised over $75,000 for GHAVFD. This past summer, Bank of Colorado hosted area firefighters and their families in an exclusive suite at a Rockies game to thank them again and let them know their efforts on our behalf are not forgotten.

We’re thankful and proud to be a part of such a strong and resilient community, and to be partners with so many local individuals and businesses.

Winston Churchill once commented, “It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.” It is an honor to live and work in a place with so much heart and courage.

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Page 4B • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Estes Park Trail-Gazette

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Quick thinking ensured fiber connectivity as blazes loomed

By Trailblazer Broadband For the Trail-Gazette

In 2020, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires threatened the existing fiber-optic paths that provide essential telecommunications services to the residents, businesses, guests, and emergency services of the Estes Valley area. The threat spurred a highly coordinated, blazing-fast effort to create a backup fiber path in less than five days. Without the Town of Estes Park’s decision to create Trailblazer Broadband, our municipal broadband service, this effort would not have happened. Under intense pressure, many regional individuals and organizations, including Trailblazer Broadband’s own Network Architect and Estes Park resident, Josh Cramer, came together to ensure continuity of communications for the town during the fire.

At the time, Trailblazer Broadband had been operational for just over a year and was providing service to 512 residential and business customers. On Oct. 17, 2020, Cramer reviewed satellite imagery of the Cameron Peak fire’s progress to assess the threat to Trailblazer’s network. Cramer and the rest of the Trailblazer team were concerned that the fire could threaten essential communications not only to Trailblazer customers but to all of Estes Park, its front-line works, the hospital, residents, and businesses.

Trailblazer Broadband, as well as all internet service in Estes Park, is connected to the rest of the world through two redundant fiber paths owned by PRPA (Platte River Power Authority) and WAPA (Western Area Power Administration). Without these connections, the community is cut off from internet and cellular communications, potentially for days, as occurred during the 2013 flood and a snow and ice storm in March of 2016.

These two events motivated our community to take

Town of Estes Park / Courtesy photo

This photo shows a view of East Troublesome Fire from Windy Gap Substation.

ownership of our fiber future.

“That Saturday, the fire was moving fast,” Cramer says, “Wind was high and the situation was unpredictable and scary.”

He realized that the fire potentially could destroy one or both of the upstream fiber connections that parallel Highway 34, creating a true communication and safety crisis. Cramer immediately began texting and speaking with other organizations in the region that shared these concerns. With Trailblazer’s initiation, an Emergency Communication Support Team was formed, comprised of at least 11 organizations including PRPA, WAPA, NWCCOG (Project Thor), Mammoth Networks, Mountain States Electric, Northern Water, Middle Park Health, Grand County, CenturyLink, Tri State and the Town of Estes Park/Trailblazer.

The team determined that existing fiber under the Continental Divide could possibly be used to create an additional upstream connection through Granby. “It really was amazing to see everybody’s willingness to help the people of Estes Park in this threatening time,” Cramer comments. “This had never been done before, and these types of projects typically take months or years. Now everyone is try-

ing to think of a way to do it in a matter of days.”

Cramer gathered and configured gear from Trailblazer Broadband’s inventory and headed for Granby. WAPA, Northern Water, and Mountain States Electric also mobilized personnel to build the connections, routing through the Windy Gap substation.

After splicing was completed, Cramer installed network equipment at Middle Park Health. After completing the installation the fiber was successfully lit.

What began with a few texts and phone calls about an idea resulted in a functional backup fiber path 5 days later. Meanwhile, the East Troublesome Fire was blowing east and would soon become a major threat to Estes Park, crossing the Continental Divide the night of Wednesday, Oct. 21.

On Thursday, Oct. 22, Cramer drove back to Estes Park, only to learn that the community was under a rapidly expanding mandatory evacuation order. “That was how close it was,” he says. The effort provided extra assurance for continued communications for the countless firefighters, law enforcement, medical staff, utility workers, and communications professionals who remained in Estes Park, based at the Estes Park Emergency Operations

Center, at the Event Center, while the community was otherwise evacuated.

Reliable internet connectivity is essential for emergency services, first responders, remote workers, business operations, remote learning, and more, which is the reason that Estes Park is building municipally-owned Trailblazer Broadband. As Cramer sums it up, “It is more important than ever that we get this right for our communities and that everybody understands how community is connected and how we remain connected when these situations happen.”

To get a more in-depth view of this story and the inception of Trailblazer Broadband, please view the Colorado Broadband September Lunch & Learn featuring Josh Cramer, Network Architect for Trailblazer Broadband.

Trailblazer Broadband in Estes Park’s municipally owned and locally supported high-speed internet service.

Trailblazer currently serves 1,288 active customers over a fiber-optic network that is being constructed over the next 3 to 4 years and will ultimately be available to everyone served by Estes Park Power and Communications.

To learn more visit www.trailblazerbroadband.com.

Hiking the Cub Lake Loop after the fire

By Wendy Rigby Trail-Gazette

loop either direction, we parked at the Cub Lake Trailhead and began by Editor’s note: This Hike of walking up the road to the the Week first published on Fern Lake Trailhead.

July 8, 2021.

The trail there begins For a moderate hike that with a small rise. Then it includes a close-up view of descends and meets the fire damage and the begin- Big Thompson River. Very ning of nature’s restorasoon after embarking on tion, the Cub Lake Loop is this trail, you can begin to both a harsh reminder of see the effects of last fall’s the power of the East Trou- wildfire. blesome Fire and a testaLarge patches of burned ment to the resilience of trees dot the landscape on plants and animals in either side of the trail Rocky Mountain National which has been meticuPark. lously rebuilt, complete My hiking partners and I with new wooden bridges. started before 5 a.m. to However, the devastation is avoid the necessity of a res- not as complete as it could ervation. We wore head have been (or as it was in lamps on the first part of my mind’s eye). 250-yearthe trek (Heigh-Ho!) since old towering pines are it was still fairly dark. burned black. Then right Although you can hike this next to that, a grove of

aspens may be untouched by flames. Since the winds were blowing so fiercely to fuel the East Troublesome Fire, the damage is almost like a patchwork quilt in places. I’m hoping this helps with nature’s recovery, although it will take years and years.

I was heartened by the beautiful green undergrowth in most places.

Deer were grazing.

Where the fire had burned the hottest, there were still some black patches. Astonishingly, the fire got so hot that pieces of some huge boulders cracked off and are lying on the ground.

Passing through the iconic Arch Rocks gave me a sense of the enduring power of the landscape.

At about 1.7 miles into the hike, you come across the Pool, a deep inset body of water with a wooden bridge across it. Looking below the pool, the Big Thompson River was flowing well (and beautifully).

From this point, follow the signs to Cub Lake. This part of the trail ascends through a burn area left over from a 2012 fire that charred the area, but again, nature is finding its way back to normal. Total mileage is about 6.1.

While taking in the grandeur of summer in an upand-down loop on one of the most interesting hikes in the park, enjoy the sights and sound of nature on the mend. And, of course, a river runs through it…unchanged.

Praying from page 2B whatever else they were lacking to get going again.

We averaged 18-24 families each day who were coming in for assistance.

It’s during moments of crisis when you see the strength of an organization and this was definitely a good test for us. Our team of qualified staff and volunteers worked extremely well together as they met the needs of our neighbors.

One of the many things I learned through this experience is that we have no control over many things in life; especially the earth, wind, and fire.

As the wildfires were growing closer to Estes Park, many people bowed their head in prayer asking for divine intervention to save the lives of those in harm’s way, to protect houses from the flames, and keep our local businesses safe for another day of transactions. The Chaplain for the YMCA, Greg Bunton, went to Facebook asking people to join him in prayer for the YMCA and everyone else that was in danger of being completely destroyed from the wildfires. He had over 15,000 viewers join him in prayer.

My wife and I prayed with some friends where we were staying and pleaded with God to show up and

do what only he could do.

Once the Amen was said, we chose to believe everything would be okay no matter what happened.

Now, that we’re on the other side of this experience, I can see clearly how God answered the prayers of everyone who asked for help in their time of need. I’ve heard people say we “got lucky” that the snow came when it did, but I’m not one to gamble with the lives of hundreds of people, so I put my trust in the only one who has the power to move mountains and even extinguish fires that burn on mountains with a generous portion of snowflakes.

My faith was definitely put to the test when I stood in front of a station full of firefighters asking God to intervene on our behalf and put an end to the fires. God chose to work through the efforts of our trained men and women to do a lot, but there were a few things that only God could do and He did it in a big way.

The psalmist wrote about the Lord being an everpresent help in our time of need and that nothing is impossible to those who believe. I’m here to tell you I’m a believer and I’m so grateful that our town was saved.

The Stanley / Courtesy photo

Fire crews are fed freshly prepared meal at the Historic Stanley Hotel on Oct. 23, 2020.

Stanley from page 2B drove up with ‘enough Gatorade and snacks to feed an army.’ Thanks to a successful, coordinated effort, Cullen says they are prepared to serve ‘800-100 persons for the next 2-3 days.’

“We have an assembly line of food, everything individually packaged in boxes and containers,” said Johnson. “It’s really nice to be able to help these people; they’re from all over the country and some from Canada.”

As far as COVID-19 goes, people are instructed to wear masks and to keep their distance.

“We definitely want to be very careful and keep our firefighters healthy, and of course the staff here at the Stanley knows exactly how to do that,” said Johnson.

The group of volunteers, led by Cullen, was also able to get their hands on some Halloween candy that was originally destined for the downtown Halloween event, an event that is likely to see fewer participants given

the current conditions.

Johnson said he has heard a few of the members of the fire crews talking and they are excited to be in the group that got to come to the Stanley for the night.

“They all wanted to come to the Stanley,” said Johnson. “I know there are a couple other sites doing these feedings, but of course everybody wants to come to the Stanley.”

Johnson is serving his final three months of his term as County Commissioner and says he plans to work until the very last day.

While anyone on the outside looking in would step back in awe of the kindness and effort it took to put on such a gathering, Cullen says it is what he has come to expect from Estes Park.

“When our backs are against the wall we tend to forget all of the little stuff and concentrate on what’s important,” Cullen said.

“Our community comes together.

Estes Park Trail-Gazette • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Page 5B

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Firefighter recounts fires that nearly swallowed Estes

By Tim Mosier Trail-Gazette

Wendy Rigby / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

The “Troublesome Stories” exhibit is located at 315 Pitkin in Grand Lake. It is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through the end of October.

Troublesome Stories: Tales from the wildfire Cooper captured 9,000 images.

“It was surreal,” Cooper recalled. “It was kind of an eerie The East Troublesome Fire thing having the landscape comthat sparked the evacuation of pletely dark at noon. Day the entire town of Estes Park in becomes night. You get disorientOctober 2020 ravaged areas west ed because you don’t know of the Continental Divide near which way the sun is going. To Grand Lake. As a nod to the devsee 30 foot flames and 100 foot astation to nature and people, trees on fire was incredible. The Grand Lake is hosting a new radiant heat that came from the exhibit called “Troublesome StoEast Troublesome Fire is inderies.” scribable.”

Filled with stunning photoOver the years, Cooper has graphs, stories of local residents had many photograph published and charred artifacts from the in articles and magazines. He has burn, the exhibit serves as an never been involved in an exhibit elevated and respectful doculike “Troublesome Stories.” mentation of the second largest When he was approached by wildfire in recorded Colorado Grand Lake, Cooper agreed to history. the project.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve “It’s definitely something difever seen,” said Emily Hagen, ferent and I’m happy they reach Executive Director of the Grand out to me,” he mentioned. I’ve Lake Chamber whose seed of an the faces of people coming idea turned into the exhibit. through the exhibit. Some people “Immediately after the fire I couldn’t enter because it was so knew that we would be experiintense. To see locals come encing a lot of guests this sumthrough the gallery is very movmer once we figured out we still ing. I saw people break down and had a town. I knew that people cry or stare in awe at the imagwould want to support us. That’s es.” just how people who visit Grand Cooper is hopeful the exhibit Lake are. I started thinking will get to travel so that other about how we could educate Coloradans can see it. guests about the impact of the “I hope it can bring some attenfire – not necessarily the impact tion to fire safety,” Cooper to our forest – but the impact on stressed. “We need to inform and our people.” educate people that his is real. I The exhibit starts with a map was very happy with how everythat shows the progression of the Photographer Thomas thing turned out. The metal gives fire which started on October 14, Cooper a real HD quality and puts people Littleton, Colo., resident Thom- at the front of what we witnessed 2020. as Cooper is the talented photog- and saw. I hope people will see “It traveled 40 miles in seven days,” explained Chamber book- rapher whose work defines the them and change ways we do keeper and volunteer Judy Tum- “Troublesome Stories” exhibit. things.”

His company is Lightbox Images. blin.

Cooper has been back to “I’ve been covering wildfires in Grand Lake dozens of times As Tumblin pointed out where Colorado since the early 2000s,” since the wildfire, documenting the fire jumped the Continental Divide, she explained, “This is a Cooper said. Í went through a the first snow, the clean-up and basic wildland fire training mile-and-a-half at 13, 200 feet. the return of spring. course to learn about the ins and The fact that it could jump over To learn more about Thomas outs of wildfire safety and firetundra and rock like that is just Cooper and his photography, visfighting.” not comprehensible. In places, it his website at lightboximagHe noted he has covered about es.com. the fire got so hot, that if you touched a granite boulder, it just 100 wildfires in the last two Exhibit details fell apart. In some places, the fire decades.

“I was heading toward the The “Troublesome Stories” hit 3,000 degrees. Some winds Cameron Peak Fire from the Cal- exhibit is located at 315 Pitkin in were at 120 miles per hour, Grand Lake. It is free and open to equivalent to a category 5 hurri- Wood Fire when East Troublesome cropped up,” Cooper the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. cane.” explained. “Because of the way daily through the end of October.

Between the cases with the fire was moving rapidly, I More than 3,000 people have charred artifacts are stories of headed to it because I knew this toured the exhibit since it people impacted by the East opened. For more information, Troublesome Fire. Those stories was becoming something out of the ordinary. I threw on my fire have names like “The fire didn’t go to https://gograndlake.com/ burn my memories” and “All that gear and prepared myself for uncategorized/troublesome-stowhat might happen. Then I start- ries-art-artifacts-from-the-eastis left.” ed shooting pictures.

The exhibit is surrounded by troublesome-fire/.

By Wendy Rigby Trail-Gazette

12634 US Highway 34, Grand Lake, CO 80447 www.trailridgemarina.com

extraordinary photographs of the fire itself which are printed on metal.

Grand Lake lost 580 structures and 36 homes, 200 of which were primary residences.

“When you take a town that has 442 people in the winter and you lose a lot of homes, it’s been catastrophic for us,” Tumblin said.

Hagen said she has 70 friends who lost their single-family residences in the East Troublesome Fire.

“It is really important to me that guests know that our community is still going through this hardship,” Hagen stressed. “This is new for us still. This is a recurring reality. We want guests to be here because they are a massive part of our recovery from this.

This exhibit is one of our ways to lay a foundation of empathy so that they know we’re all still a bit raw.”

Larry and Cheryl Pickett of Morrison near Denver recently toured “Troublesome Stories.”

“We have visited Grand Lake often,” Cheryl Pickett said. “It was very scary as we saw it unfold on television. It was devastating to watch. I think the exhibit is very touching. It kind of brings it more to life.”

Larry Pickett added, “It’s unbelievable.”

Last fall, when the two largest wildfires in Colorado’s recorded history were raging just miles away from Estes Park, volunteer firefighters and first responders came from all over the country to aid in extinguishing the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires.

One of those heroes was Marty Posey of Pecos Valley Wildfire based in New Mexico, who spent 113 days in Colorado running ground operations for helicopter actions fighting the fires.

Most assignments for travelling firefighters are 10-20 days.

For the majority of his time in Colorado, Posey was stationed at Red Feather Lakes where he was first sent, and stayed there for three months fighting the Cameron Peak fire before relocating to Estes Park to aid in fighting the East Troublesome fire.

Posey worked from a helipad that was created for his team on MacGregor Ranch, on the Dry Gulch property near Lory Lane.

His team consisted of roughly ten men and once the East Troublesome crossed the Continental Divide, command was given for Posey’s team to work both blazes.

During his time in Estes Park, he and his team stayed in a motel, even after the town was evacuated. The owners provided him with master key so he could accommodate as many fire personnel as possible.

They stayed there until power was lost, then moved down to the valley. All hotels were booked in Loveland, so they had to stay further away in Fort Collins for a period of time.

On top of battling the growing fires, the teams had to find ways to keep roughly 1,500 fire personnel assigned to the Cameron Peak fire safe from massive outbreaks of COVID-19.

Due to the pandemic, there were about 15 camps that were required to hold less than 100 people each. They had team briefings over the radio rather than in person which made it difficult to exchange information.

Posey said the impact COVID19 had on his team and all personnel was a huge challenge added to an already extremely demanding situation.

Despite all of the challenges he and his team were facing, they still dropped 360,000 gallons of retardant across both fires during their time in Colorado and roughly 30,000 gallons

were used on the Estes Park side of the fire.

Posey said typical retardant carrying and dropping flights traditionally try to keep the flight length to the fire to about 12 to 15 miles. Keeping flight time short allows more drops and of course is more financially efficient, and that’s what his team did.

Typically, the retardant is dropped in front of the fire near an area like a road where it can be more effectively fought. The retardant’s chemical makeup slows the fire, but does not extinguish it, so it is typically dropped in these areas rather than directly on the fire.

The chemical retardant costs around $3 a gallon, with additional funds needed to pay individuals mixing and loading the retardant.

The retardant stains red and is very sticky so normally it is not dropped directly on houses, but for the first time in Posey’s career he did. It was necessary due to the fire’s unpredictability and intensity.

Posey thanks everyone in Estes Park for their hospitality, specifically the owners and staff of the restaurants and accommodations.

He also wanted to thank McGregor Ranch Board Chairman, William VanHorn, for allowing the use of ranch property to be transformed into helipad, and helping with equipment transfer and storage on his personal property.

“The MacGregor Ranch was happy to supply the land needed to help the helicopter operations to fight the fires,” said Office Manager for McGregor Ranch, Morgan Morris. “It was a major concern that one of the fingers of the spreading Cameron Peak fire would come through Black Canyon and destroy the historic buildings on the National Register. Fortunately, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the firefighters for their efforts in saving so many homes and lives in our town and other surrounding areas.”

The Trail-Gazette wants to thank Mr. Posey, his team, and the thousands of other firefighters and first responders that came to the aid of Estes Park in our time of need. The work of these men and women, along with the local hotels and restaurants that went out of their ways to make sure these heroes were housed and fed, played a huge role in saving Estes Park from ashes. We can never thank you enough.

Estes Valley Fire Protection District / Courtesy photo

On October 19, 2020, Glen Haven firefighters watched a Sikorsky Skycrane – a helicopter 70 ft long and 19 ft tall – fly down the middle of The Retreat making drops of 2,500 gallons at a time on active fire.

Closed for the 2021 season We will open Memorial Weekend 2022 Reservations will open in the spring Thanks for a great season!

We are available year round to answer any questions to reserve your boat or slip - contact us via email at info@trailridgemarina.com or (970) 627 3586

Page 6B • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Estes Park Trail-Gazette

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Jorge Varela, Trail Ridge Marina / Courtesy photo

This was a photo taken from a marina boat on Shadow Mountain Lake in Grand County when the evacuation away from the East Troublesome Fire had just started.

Flashback: Fear in the face of flames

File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

The East Troublesome Fire was the second largest wildfire in Colorado recorded history.

File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Flames from the Cameron Peak Fire lit up the night sky north of Estes Park in October 2020.

File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire billowed over miles of Northern Colorado for months in 2020.

File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Smoky skies in the fall of 2020 made breathing difficult for residents with respiratory conditions.

Wendy Rigby / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

This is how the skies looked over the Carriage Hills neighborhood on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.

Estes Valley Fire Protection District Protecting the Estes Valley since 1907

EMERGENCY ALERTS IN LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO Text “NOCOALERT” to 888777 for community alerts in Estes Park

File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Lines of cars with evacuees fleeing Estes Park filled up the highways out of the two on Oct. 22, 2020.

List of Essentials to Pack in an Emergency, Remember the 8 P’s: • People & Pets • Pictures • PCs • Papers (Important) • Prescriptions & Medications • Plastics – Credit Cards • Personal Devices (Phone/Chargers) • Passports & IDs

MAIN OFFICE: 901 N. Saint Vrain Ave. Estes Park, CO 80517 TELEPHONE: (970) 577-0900 WEBSITE: estesvalleyfire.org

Estes Park Trail-Gazette • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Page 7B

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER

Chamber recalls those who stepped up to help the town

Hotel Estes and Silver Moon. Many vacation rentals offered lodging and showers. You wouldn’t believe the number of hotels who wanted to help The response from the with laundry. business community last This doesn’t even start to October during the wildcomment on the long list of fires was a great demonlocals who stayed behind stration of the heart of our to help and all the compapeople. Many restaurants there were so many who nies who donated hats and were eager to donate their didn’t even coordinate gloves for the firefighters expiring food supply to through the Chamber. from sunny California. The town teams at the comDonna Carlson Same with our hotels.

Longmont Chamber colmand center and The Stanwiches and he doesn’t even The Chamber partnered lected three car loads of ley Hotel, where firefightsell sandwiches! Crosswith the Estes Area Lodgfood and beverages to ers stayed for those first roads Ministries was ing Association (EALA has share with some of the forfew days. Even though since merged with the est service firefighters who John Cullen himself was in instrumental in meeting a range of community needs, Chamber) to find out who didn’t have a food plan! the kitchen emptying the in addition to the Red has rooms available for People from all over Colofreezer to cook steaks for more firefighters. Although rado donated Halloween the firefighters, other local Cross and United Way. There were many restaumany of our lodging mem- candy so the kids could restaurants – like You bers were in evacuated come back to something Need Pie, Poppy’s, La Coci- rants from Longmont and Loveland, like Georgia’s areas, we had a tremennormal and the downtown na de Mama, Hunter’s dous response from Estes merchants made that hapChophouse, Jimmy Johns, BBQ and Jonny’s Hot pen. It’s amazing what a and Pepper’s Mexican Grill Dogs, who sent food up the Park Resort, The Ridgecanyon to give our locals a line, Murphy’s Resort, tragedy can do to unite a — donated entire meals. break. We almost hate to Rocky Mountain Hotel, community. No wonder Ed at The Sugar Shack Quality Inn, Appenzell, name anyone, because people love to live here. made hundreds of sand-

By Donna Carlson, Executive Director, Estes Chamber of Commerce For the Trail-Gazette

VEP grateful to firefighters for preserving the community and now, as adults, bring their children or grandchildren to. Estes Park is a The firefighters who place where older generadefended our town during tions can explore the same 2020’s fires not only helped trails they hiked as chilto prevent fire from dren with younger generadestroying our homes but tions. helped to prevent it from It’s a place where guests destroying our means of stand in line to visit the supporting ourselves, and shops and restaurants importantly, our communi- they’ve visited for generaty. tions. It’s a place where The community of Estes they feel the same sense of Park relies on a strong pride for Estes Park that tourism economy to prowe, as residents, feel. vide business opportunity To thank the women and and employment, and to men who worked so tirefund services and amenilessly to preserve the area ties that make Estes Park a so many know and love, wonderful place to live.

Visit Estes Park, in partEven moderate impact nership with the Estes Arts from the fires would have District and the Estes Valaffected tourism, and so ley Resiliency Collaboraour livelihood and this tive, commissioned local incredible place we call artist Wade Johnston to home. paint a mural memorializGuests would have lost a ing their efforts. See it in meaningful destination as George Hix Riverside Plawell. For many visitors, za, in the alley that leads to Estes Park is the destinaElkhorn Avenue between tion they’ve been coming Inkwell & Brew and Macto since they were children Donald Book Shop.

By Visit Estes Park For the Trail-Gazette

Visit Estes Park / Courtesy photo

Visit Estes Park, in partnership with the Estes Arts District and the Estes Valley Resiliency Collaborative, commissioned local artist Wade Johnston to paint a mural memorializing firefighters’ efforts.

Saved from page 3B Intense mitigation and redirection efforts took place throughout the day and that night a storm came and dropped over a foot of snow onto the fire area, granting crews a respite from the heat.

“At first it was the fog, the fog parked . We had the fire start building steam on the 23rd … we were able to stop the forward spread and then that night we got a foot and a half to two feet of snow.”

While it was certainly the quick actions of the fire crews from Oct. 21-23 that determined the fate of the town, the fuel mitigation work that has been done in the park over the last 20 years was crucial in aiding those crews in their success.

“We’ve been fighting this fire for 20 years. People before I even got here recognized the threats to our communities,” said Lewelling who has been with the park for 15 years.

“They started a pretty robust fuel reduction program. We have become much more intense with how much fuel we are taking out.”

In some areas of RMNP, bark beetles have killed thousands of trees that can become like kindling to a wildfire. Fuel reductions efforts are designed to take as much burnable materials out of the forests as possible, slowing any potential wildfire that comes through the area.

Fuel treatments involves many things including prescribed burns and cutting down dead trees which are either hauled away or stacked in piles that are burned during the winter.

In some cases, the bottom 10-15 feet of Ponderosa pines are burnt intentionally, so a fire that is sweeping through the forest floor does not ignite an entire tree and move to the canopies, creating a crown fire.

“Ponderosas are made to burn,” said Lewelling.

“Well, actually all our trees were meant to burn … Mother Nature created all of this stuff to burn. It’s like every year she is adding more fuels to the fires. Every year she is putting more burnable vegetation on the forest floor and major trees will start dying and coming

down … things like the bark beetle come through and put more dead stuff on the ground and eventually it will burn.”

In Ponderosas, the bark is thick enough that most fires don’t burn the tree.

Smaller fires with lower flame lengths (2-3 feet tall) will singe the bottom branches so when the next fire comes through, those branches won’t be as close to the ground.

“Ponderosas rely on frequent low intensity fires,” said Lewelling.

During the ETF, ‘Catcher’s Mitt’ became a popular term. That phrase referred to the layout of the roads and the fuel reductions done over the last 20 years that created a sort of buffer zone between the drainages in RMNP that would potentially funnel a fire directly into Estes Park, and the town.

“Truth be told, if the fog bank didn’t come, there are no fuel treatments in the world that are going to stop a crown fire that’s spotting a mile and a half,” Lewelling said. “Chance favors the prepared, and the chance that the fog came up, that gave us the time to utilize our fuel treatments and be aggressive with our suppression actions.”

Lewelling said it was incredible to see how many agencies and crews showed up to help by the morning of Oct. 23.

“If we had a fire today I have no doubt that Grand Lake, Allenspark, Estes Park, the Forest Service, the Counties, they would all be here at a moment’s notice to help us, just like we would be there to help them,” said Lewelling. “It was really heartening to see so many engines from all over the Front Range that morning. They dropped everything at the last minute to come because they knew this was the moment the fire could come in.”

Of all the thousands of men and women who helped fight both the ETF and the CPF, there were zero serious injuries.

The East Troublesome fire came as close as one mile away from the YMCA of the Rockies and burned a total of 193,812 acres, 30,000 of which were in RMNP.

cine will eventually turn the pandemic into a more manageable epidemic. of the Rockies had to be COVID-19 before there At the Trail-Gazette, we moved and John Cullen of was a vaccination available hope this retrospective on The Stanley opened his his- was a challenge. this difficult time in our toric hotel and made sure Upon the town’s return history serves as an imporfirst responders had a home, COVID rates in our tant reminder of the trials place to sleep and food to community went up. The Estes Park went through eat. rates jumped to their high- and the power of the natuThe Red Cross made est levels since the beginral world we live in. sure people who did not ning of the pandemic. It Special thanks to Jason have the money to pay full was hard for people who Van Tatenhove and Brett price at a hotel had a place had been evacuated to far- Rios for sharing their amazto land with a warm bed flung places not to bring ing photographs of the fire and food. the illness back with them. with us in 2020.

None of us knew what Looking back at what has Michael Romero, would happen. Would our happened in the year since Publisher homes be there when we the unprecedented evacuaWendy Rigby, Managing returned? Would the park tion, we can count ourEditor/Reporter be scarred beyond recogni- selves lucky on many Tim Mosier, Lead tion? fronts, though much was Reporter Adding to the stress was lost.

Daniel Sewell, the fact that we were in the The Rocky Mountains Advertising File photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette middle of a global pandem- and the habitat will slowly Deb Thelander, A double whammy of the long-burning Cameron Peak Fire and the sudden launch of the ic. Leaving around the try- recover over many years.

Administration and East Troublesome Fire across the Continental Divide created a scene that made the skies ing to avoid catching The development of a vacDistribution over Estes Park look like Armageddon.

Leaving from page 1B

Page 8B • Friday, October 22, 2021 • Estes Park Trail-Gazette

WILDFIRES 2020: ONE YEAR LATER Fear from page 1B Cameron Peak Fire in Glen Haven. However, on October 21, winds in Grand County drove the East Troublesome Fire over 100,000 acres and pushed towards the Continental Divide. We knew this was an unprecedented amount of growth for one day, but were skeptical that the fire would directly jump over the divide – 1.5 miles wide at that location.

On the morning of October 22nd, I received a phone call from RMNP Fire Manager Mike Lewelling advising that a satellite over the equator was picking up heat in the Spruce Creek drainage on the eastern side of the divide – never a good sign. EVFPD resources pulled out of Glen Haven and I reported to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Estes Park Events Center. Like before, we had lines on our maps of when we would order the necessary evacuations for the Estes Valley, awaiting confirmation of the fire’s actual location.

Modeling done back in 2017 gave us a sense of how fast a fire could spread, and we knew that any fire on our side of the divide left less time than we’d like.

The fire was confirmed to be further down the canyon by 11:30 and the first evacuations were ordered for the Highway 66 corridor. Estes

Valley Firefighters worked alongside law enforcement from the Town, County, Park, and State to notify everyone of the risk and the need to start evacuating.

The East Troublesome Fire grew even faster than expected, changing voluntary to mandatory and expanding the zones of evacuations. By 2:30 in the afternoon, under dark red skies, the entire valley had been put under mandatory evacuations expecting the fire could enter our Town as it had in so many other communities. This was one of the most challenging times for all our members – career and volunteer – and showed the dedication of these men and women to their communities. They have families who also needed to evacuate and get to safety, but every one of our agency’s 40 volunteers reported for duty to help with evacuations and engaging in the expected firefight.

We were in uncharted waters, never having experienced the need to evacuate our whole community or face a fire that could move at these speeds and scale.

We had a lot of things in our favor that day. Thanks to air quality, children were home from school. Thanks to COVID, tourism was down so we “only” had to evacuate 35,000 people instead of a normal October

Estes Valley Fire Protection District / Courtesy photo

Senator Bennet and Congressman Neguse came to the EOC to be filled in on the situation and the Incident Management Team worked with local organizations to manage the reopening of Town.

with over 60,000. Thanks to the skies, no one questioned if we needed to evacuate. Teams from all over came together to accomplish a shared mission of getting everyone out of town safely.

We had plenty of unexpected challenges too.

Within the last five days, every road into Estes Park was closed due to a natural disaster – Cameron Peak, Calwood, and Lefthand Fires all impacted roads leading up to our evacuation. The fire’s location took a long time to confirm, so the jump from voluntary to mandatory was happening faster than we would’ve liked. Still, the crews persisted to get everyone out safely and set to work preparing for the fire’s arrival.

Winds continued to push

and we expected the fire to arrive in the early morning hours of Saturday October 24. Everyone was called into the station for a briefing and calls were put out to our mutual aid neighbors.

In addition to the resources assigned, another 35 engines arrived in town to help. Given the growth over the last week, we expected the fire to push through Highway 66 by late morning and work it’s way down Moraine towards Elkhorn before snow could start to fall that evening. Every firefighter at that briefing knew this would not just be some random community, but their community. Their homes, their neighbors’ homes, their friends’ homes. They gritted down and got to work, preparing as many homes as possible.

As we now know, luck was on our side that day.

The winds coming over the divide were so extreme that they eddied the fire up in the Park and prevented the types of runs we had seen across the state. By the time the fire pushed down, crews were able to engage utilizing the National Park’s fuel treatments and keep the fire from entering our community. The snow started to fall that night, and by morning our concerns were considerably lower. Work continued over the next week to confirm the risk was mitigated before bringing everyone back. Senator Bennet and Congressman Neguse came to our EOC to be filled in on the situation and the Incident Management Team worked with local organizations to manage the reopening of Town.

A year later, I am still amazed at how close our community came to extreme disaster. A fortunately timed snowstorm, unpredictable weather patterns, hundreds of first responders, and decades of mitigation work performed by the National Park all came together to provide a positive outcome for our community. It would be easy to forget about the communities who were not as lucky in Grand County and in northern Larimer County – where two lives and over 1,000 structures were lost.

Thomas Jefferson is cred-

ited with saying, “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”. We were lucky in Estes to have the fires stop at our doorstep, but that undersells the amount of work and preparation that went in for years beforehand. Looking back at that time, I also cannot say enough good things about the members of our organization who stepped up and were willing to put themselves in harms way to try and protect our community and those around us.

The year kept challenging us, and people continued to step up.

The Estes Park community is a special one. Not just because of our surroundings, but because of the people when they come together for a common good. We all have a different idea on what this community is, and what this community can/should be, but those all were put aside during the challenge of last October. The community’s generosity came forth to support their neighbors who had needs and the first responders working in their community. We all kept adapting to the “new normal” and the ever-moving goal posts of what that will be.

I hope our community never has to face a challenge like we did last year, but know that we can come together to accomplish whatever is required.

EPH from page 11B and Colorado.

The Cameron Peak Fire certainly was the focus for all of us here in town for much of the late summer and into early autumn. The smoke in the air was often very intense, and EPH offered a lot of advice to our patients and community about how to deal with the smoke, especially for those with respiratory impairments.

When we watched Cameron pass by to the north early in October, with favorable winds and heroic firefighting helping to keep it from Estes, we felt that perhaps we were now safe.

Fortunately, while we watched Cameron grow, EPH established an Incident Command and began evacuation planning, for all departments, including our nursing home and inpatient wing. Every department was required to update and share their evacuation plan, and this planning was very significant during the actual event. We ensured that we had current agreements with nursing homes and hospitals down the hill.

For departments that needed to take supplies or equipment with them, they had “go bags” with those components, ready to go.

In addition, the pandemic had already accelerated the move to telehealth, videoconferencing, and telecommuting. Many employees were already capable of working from home or while on the road when October arrived.

And then, with frightening suddenness, the East Troublesome Fire exploded in a matter of very few

days and the forests that had been ravaged years earlier by pine-bark beetles turned into a nuclear furnace. On the morning of October 22, the fire bounced over the divide, turning day to night with the thick smoke. Denver Fire showed up and began watering down the hospital, and the parade of Estes evacuees began down the hill.

The order for mandatory evacuation was given at 12:18 p.m. on that day, and by 12:20 p.m., EPH’s Incident Command had initiated our evacuation plan. A wide variety of employees, including administrators, staff, and physicians, helped evacuate the Living Center and our inpatients.

The cooperation and efficiency were amazing to behold. All the other departments performed their evacuation procedures in parallel, and by 2:45 p.m. the building was evacuated; by 3:30 p.m. we released the building to Denver Fire’s management.

One very important part of our planning was how we would communicate with our community during the evacuation. We made great use of social media, email blasts, website posting, our phone system, and interaction with other agencies (local newspapers), which helped get the word out about status of the hospital, services that could still occur (medication refills, for example), and when we would reopen in Estes.

One of the great saving graces of the process was that the fire never caused

Estes Park Health / Courtesy photo

The Cameron Peak Fire certainly was the focus for all of us here in town for much of the late summer and into early autumn. The smoke in the air was often very intense, and EPH offered a lot of advice to our patients and community about how to deal with the smoke.

Estes Park Health / Courtesy photo

A wide variety of employees, including administrators, staff, and physicians, helped evacuate the Living Center and EPH inpatients.

we would reopen services.

We scheduled to have the state of Colorado health department visit and surEstes Park Health / Courtesy photo vey EPH to ensure that we With frightening suddenness, the East Troublesome Fire were opening safely, and exploded in a matter of very few days and the forests that they affirmed that we were had been ravaged years earlier by pine-bark beetles turned on-target and ready to into a nuclear furnace. again provide services to our community. By Octoelectricity to go down at return. The leadership ber 28, some key services the hospital, and our comteam all had phone, text, puter network stayed up email capability throughout (Emergency Department and supporting services throughout the crisis. Phy- the crisis. like lab and radiology) sicians could easilysend in Our EMS team, heroes orders to refill prescripthat they are, stayed to sup- were reopening.

Despite all the planning, tions and update patient port firefighters. charts, finance staff could The winter storm hit the the intense time compression of the immediate evaccontinue to perform much night of October 26 and uation order was challengof their work, and the infor- that, combined with the ing for our hospital staff. mation technology team non-stop and incredible could continue to provide work from the firefighters, We had to move at an even faster pace than we’d support to our distant led to rising hope that we workers. Our lab analyzers would be able to reoccupy expected, but our planning allowed us to accelerate and our MRI and other EPH. There was great equipment were easy to communication and discus- the process as needed.

When considering how to bring back up after the sion about when and how

deal with these types of incidents, one must consider the highly improbable — because it is possible!

We also noted that our staff had to begin to consider their own families, so, at a certain point, folks had to leave to attend to their personal affairs and evacuation of their own homes.

While we have concern about future years, given Colorado’s vast beetlekilled forests, climatechange considerations around the world, the continued challenges from COVID, and other dangers such as floods and storms, we know again that this valley is mountain strong and that we, the community hospital, is strong enough to handle whatever comes our way. Ever onward!