NCAR scientists look at Hawaii fire to better predict Colorado wildfires

VIDEO: When the Marshall fire swept through Boulder County, no one could have predicted its path of destruction, but researchers are working to develop tools that can. Timothy Juliano is a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. Juliano and his team are studying a different fire to better understand what could happen here in Colorado. "We focused on the Lahaina fire which happened in Hawaii," Juliano said. Using advanced computer models, the researchers were able to simulate the wildfire that devastated the town of Lahaina. They replicated how the intense winds there whipped up a brushfire and drove flames into populated areas. "We learned that, first of all, downslope wind storms are really destructive," said Juliano. "If there is a an ignition that kind of correlates with a downslope windstorm, then that can just lead to really disastrous results."
KUSA-TV NBC 9 Denver

Driver safe after semi catches fire at Eisenhower Tunnel near Summit

PHOTOS: A trucker was able to jump out of a burning semi after it caught fire coming out the Eisenhower Tunnel Tuesday evening. “The driver managed to roll up the [I-70] runaway truck ramp and escape safely,” Summit Fire and EMS said in a social media post. Once safely out of the vehicle, the driver tried to put the blaze out himself, Summit County emergency responders said. “The driver tried to put out the fire with a couple of on-board extinguishers, but it had grown too quickly and even spread to some nearby vegetation,” Summit Fire wrote on Facebook. “Our c-shift crews and our Wildland Division (shaking the rust off their skills at an ideal time of year) backed by several from Breckenridge-based Red, White & Blue Fire and Mountain Recovery Towing, were able to stop the fire from spreading further and extinguish.”
KKTV CBS 11 Colorado Springs

House Passes Bill to Continue Wildfire Prevention Awareness

The House passed legislation that aims to expand wildfire prevention efforts through community education. HB24-1024, Extend Outreach Campaigns Wildfire Risk Mitigation, would require the Colorado state forest service to conduct enhanced wildfire awareness outreach campaigns through 2027. The bill would additionally appropriate $300,000 from the general fund for the state fiscal year of 2024-25 to the forest service; in which they can use for ongoing campaigns and outreach efforts to increase awareness of wildfire risk mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. The bill passed by a vote of 49-13 and builds on a 2022 law. “Colorado has experienced devastating wildfires in the last few years that have burned down homes, businesses, and our beautiful outdoors,” said Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs.
KKCO-TV NBC 11 Grand Junction

Rezoning approved for new fire station near Gleneagle

The Colorado Springs City Council unanimously voted to rezone about 5 acres of land in northern Colorado Springs to build the area's latest fire station. Since 2021, the Fire Department has planned to build its Fire Station 24 at the intersection of New Life Drive and Interquest Parkway, east of Pikes Peak State College's Rampart Range Campus. The planned one-story, approximately 12,000-square-foot facility will cost $7 million to $10 million to build, fire officials previously estimated when the Planning Commission in mid-March considered the rezoning request. Fire Station 24 will provide service to a growing part of town, Kenny Rankin, the city's facility administrator, said Tuesday. Fire Department representatives said previously the area already sees between 700 to 750 calls for service a year and they expect call volumes to increase as development continues in the vicinity.
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