Posted inNews, Wildfire

Federal forest chief calls for pause on prescribed burns amid dangerous fire conditions

By Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Federal officials are warning that expanding drought conditions coupled with hot and dry weather, extreme wind and unstable atmospheric conditions have led to explosive fire behavior in the southwestern U.S., where large fires continued their march across New Mexico on Friday. Crews also battled blazes […]

Posted inNews

“An incredible frustration”: Boulder County fire officials have long sought better wildfire escape routes

Fire chief Michael Schmitt is bumping down an unpaved road west of Boulder, barely wide enough for his SUV. He’s headed toward the dead end of County Road 83, where — behind a metal gate, behind tree trunks blackened in the Fourmile Canyon fire — a narrow dirt road is cut into the mountainside.   If […]

Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water, Wildfire

Fire and rain: West to get more one-two extreme climate hits

By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press The one-two punch of nasty wildfires followed by heavy downpours, triggering flooding and mudslides, will strike the U.S. West far more often in a warming-hopped world, becoming a frequent occurrence, a new study said. That fire-flood combination, with extreme drenchings hitting a spot that burned within a year, could increase as much as […]

Posted inArts, Culture, News

Cano’s Castle, a southern Colorado folk art landmark, is heavily damaged in fire

A fire early Thursday consumed much of Cano’s Castle, a folk art landmark in Antonito near the New Mexico border, officials said. Dominic “Cano” Espinoza, the castle’s builder, is safe, and no other injuries were reported, Antonito police officer Olga Cortez said. The cause of the fire remained under investigation Thursday morning. Espinoza could not […]

Posted inMarshall Fire

The minute-by-minute story of the Marshall fire’s wind-fueled tear through Boulder County

BOULDER COUNTY – Chihoko Cullens’ 7-year-old daughter was using the new teacher set she got for Christmas to run a pretend classroom for her little brother and sister, all three still in their pajamas, when the smell of smoke crept into the house.  It was 12:10 p.m., an hour after the first 911 call reporting […]