Sun staff writers Jason Blevins, Tamara Chuang, Shannon Najmabadi, Olivia Prentzel and Kevin Simpson contributed to this story. Colorado has endured some major catastrophic wildfires over the past decade. But if there’s any silver lining to all that devastation, it’s that the survivors have learned some valuable lessons about how to proceed in their aftermath. […]
Black Forest fire
Posted inClimate, Coloradans, News, Wildfire
Amid the charred ruins of Colorado wildfires, a sense of community evolves with the rebuild
About this story: Sun staff writer Kevin Simpson wrote and compiled this account with contributions from Jason Blevins, Jennifer Brown, Tamara Chuang, Shannon Najmabadi and Olivia Prentzel. Kiki Turner stood in front of the house where she grew up, now a pile of ashes in a scorched and flattened neighborhood. She could see for miles, […]
Posted inNews, Wildfire
More than 300 homes were destroyed by the East Troublesome fire
More than 300 homes were destroyed by the East Troublesome fire last month when it made an epic run across Grand County and became the second largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history. The news was shared Sunday evening by Grand County Brett Schroetlin, who added that an additional 100 to 200 secondary structures — including […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Colorado forest fires have become a devastating marker of summer
The blood red setting sun shrouded by smoky haze captured my attention as I walked by Kountze Lake in Belmar Park a few days ago. Combined with the sharp taste of acidic air, my mind immediately traveled back to 2002. Nearly two decades removed from the moment, I still remember driving along the eastbound 6th […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Wildfire
Deep inside Black Forest, a lesson in the importance of wildfire mitigation
BLACK FOREST — Dave Root’s state-issued pickup truck bounces down an overgrown two-track, a pair of pinecones stuck between the hood and windshield wipers. Though he grew up in Colorado Springs and still lives there, Root has been working among the trees in Black Forest for the better part of three decades. It’s the cathedral […]
Posted inNews, Wildfire
Many Black Forest residents were thrilled to find their property intact after the 2013 wildfire. For some, the ordeal was just beginning.
BLACK FOREST — At first, Nancy Trosper could hardly believe her good fortune. Although she initially heard that her house had burned to the ground in the disastrous 2013 Black Forest fire, the report proved erroneous. When she saw it still standing, and authorities finally allowed her to move back in, she was ecstatic. But […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Politics and Government, Wildfire
For one man in a Colorado foothills town, watching the Black Forest wildfire explode was almost like looking in the mirror.
In Bailey, John Van Doren invited Black Forest residents to speak there in the hope that he and his neighbors might benefit from lessons learned. That led to a plan.
Posted inNews, Wildfire
Black Forest has rebuilt after the fire that gutted it. But is it at risk of being destroyed again?
BLACK FOREST — For more than five years after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, Bill Mantia methodically cleared the charred skeleton of a forest from what once was his 20-acre parcel of paradise. Every day it went like this: Cut down a dead tree, saw it into smaller pieces, stack the wood, haul […]