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Fire near 11 Mile

Original Post
Glenn Schuler · · Monument, Co. · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,330

Sounds like its east of the canyon and headed further east? Anyone have any better info? Smoke is visible from the springs. Forecast is nothing but hot & windy for the next week - F%#K!!

Patrick Manitou · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 145

It's still a rumor, but pretty much all the climbers I know are under the impression that the canyon itself is burning. I hope rumors are just rumors.

B Haus · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 486

Just checked out the info Glenn. I cant get any fire maps, but they have been evacuating all the residents near the Heavens Gate and main canyon areas. A friend of mine told me its in the canyon! How did Thunder hold up through the fire? Did you have to replace alot of bolts? Soot? I'm worried that there might be some of that in the future if this burns as predicted.

Glenn Schuler · · Monument, Co. · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,330

This sucks Ben! Another one of our favorite areas getting torched, damn.

Thunder got it real bad, took several years for the soot to wear off the walls. Bolts & hangars seemed to be OK, we didn't replace any. (we probably should though) Holds spalled off the walls from the heat.

Hope they get it under control.

Chris Beh · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2002 · Points: 435

Eleven Mile Canyon was evacuated because of the Springer wild fire yesterday. I was climbing with my family at Arch Rock. At noon we began to smell smoke then after about 30 minutes we began to see wisps of smoke. It was so windy we thought the smoke might be coming from a fire a few miles away. Then by 1:00 there was a very angry looking column of smoke just over the ridge on the other side of the river. We we're just thinking of wrapping it up when a sheriff's vehicle came through the canyon calling out for a fire evacuation over their loudspeakers. Luckily all we had going was a couple of top ropes so it was fast to clean and our camp had already been packed into the car. I don't know if we could have gone back up river to Springer Gulch Campground where we had just packed up that morning.

Here is a link to a news story.
www.gazette.com/articles/fire-140405-fighters-lighting.html
The story reports the fire might have been started by gunfire or some kind of explosion. When we were driving to the rock around 11 I heard a loud single report that sounded to loud for gunfire. There was only one report and if someone starts shooting there is usually more than one shot.

It was our first time to Elven Mile from Boulder. What a great spot for family climbing with kids. I hope it doesn't burn badly.

M Lindfors · · Highlands Ranch · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 35

9news reported that it may have been someone shooting a propane tank.

Andy Librande · · Denver, CO · Joined Nov 2005 · Points: 1,880
M Lindfors wrote:9news reported that it may have been someone shooting a propane tank.
wow....this is so awesomely stupid.

If this is true I hope they find the person and hold them 100% accountable.
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

I read in the newspaper that some people on horseback actually witnesses the fireball from what might have been the propane tank being shot. They heard a gun shot then saw the flames. Then two guys got into a truck and hightailed it out of there. No doubt they were unsuccessful at putting out the fire they had caused.

Mike Smyth · · Spartanburg, SC · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 70

I don't understand how they can't just hook a bunch of fire hoses together and pump right out of the reservoir or stream and douse the hell out of that thing. Hope they get on top of it quick.

Jon Lachelt · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Feb 2007 · Points: 0
Mike Smyth wrote:I don't understand how they can't just hook a bunch of fire hoses together and pump right out of the reservoir or stream and douse the hell out of that thing. Hope they get on top of it quick.
You're kidding, right? A fire can travel up the side of a hill in a few minutes... especially as dry as our forests are right now. They do draw water out of the rivers when it makes sense, but the fire can travel beyond the reach of a hose pretty damn fast.
J. Thompson · · denver, co · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,425
Mike Smyth wrote:I don't understand how they can't just hook a bunch of fire hoses together and pump right out of the reservoir or stream and douse the hell out of that thing. Hope they get on top of it quick.
Thats not how you fight wildfires. Very small ones, close to roads, sometimes. But otherwise they are too big and move to fast for hoses to be even remotely effective.
Unlike most fires you can picture, wildfires move....moving hoses to chase them doesn't work. The standard and effective strategy for wildfires is to remove the fuel in front of the flames, thus creating a "fireline" around the fire and stopping it. Once it's contained mopup starts, mopup entails cooling off the hotspots within a certain perimeter of the fireline. This is done by either stirring coals with dirt or, if possible, using water mixed in and stirred.

josh
Eric and Lucie · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2004 · Points: 140

Here's what you'll find from WundermAP:

fire near 11 mile Canyon
The flame symbols show the locations of fire signature as detected by satellites.
The same Wundermap will show fire perimeters as soon as official perimeter maps are available.

Those maps (an amazing resource BTW) can be accessed here
(sorry, link was wrong; now fixed)

Mike Smyth · · Spartanburg, SC · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 70

Of course I was kidding. I've been a fairly avid outdoorsman for a number of years and understand how a fire burns and how quickly things can fly out of control with arid conditions or changes in wind. It's just too bad that firefighting technology has yet to advance in a way to get on top of this stuff quicker. Again, I hope they can get on top of this quickly. I understand that sometimes dropping water on fires of this size is like spitting on a bonfire and hoping it will go out. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are helping to put it out and the families that are being displaced and in danger of losing their homes.

Peter Stokes · · Them Thar Hills · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 150

Inciweb is my go-to site for fire info, and it's updated regularly. Here's the link for the Springer fire:

inciweb.org/incident/2916/

B Haus · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 486

From what I can tell by the fire map, The Sports Crag, Turret Dome, Messenger Wall, and Soon Springer Gulch have all been hit. This is based on satellite imagery from the link above. Hopefully it doesn't jump the river (although I wouldn't be surprised if it did)! I'll try to keep an update based on the crags I can see from the satellite imagery...

dan zika · · jax wy · Joined May 2009 · Points: 5

If you have never seen the national forest service in action battleing a blaze it is truly impressive! Seeing it first hand is the only way from a distance of course! The resources they dump in & still will lose. I saw yellowstone in 88'. Watching the aerial bombers can be cool. We all should be careful this summer everywhere we travel!!!!!

Eric and Lucie · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2004 · Points: 140

The fire perimeter is now available on Wundermap :

11 Mile fire perimeter.

Dan Rabinowitz · · Colorado · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 0

Has anyone been there since the fire? Is it possible to climb on the crags that "burned"?

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

I'm happy to report that the fires in the Springer Gulch area of Elevenmile did not in fact reach the river or surround the crags there as far as I could tell from the road. We only saw isolated, burned trees today and in general the park looks super nice as usual. Rains have been slamming the park today and we only got a few routes in. So all is well. Get out there if you were thinking about going.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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