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Recent Pics from Colorado Springs

WHY do people KEEP BUILDING IN THE WORST POSSIBLE PLACES?!? Look at that slope and those fuels! That's no place to put a road, much less a home, much less a whole subdivision! Here's hoping there aren't a thousand lawsuits as soon as the ashes cool.

Hope everyone made it out ok...homes n stuff can be replaced:msp_wink:
 
WHY do people KEEP BUILDING IN THE WORST POSSIBLE PLACES?!? Look at that slope and those fuels! That's no place to put a road, much less a home, much less a whole subdivision!

I always wondered that myself. I'm also curious as to why measures aren't taken to reduce the fuels in and around these homes and subdivisions.

Are there gov't restrictions which prevent this?
 
Government restriction??? Not getting on your case Bud, but they are the ones that allow this kinda nonsense building to take place. More homes, more tax dollars. Talk to any fire marshal about what they think of these sub-divisions with 10foot setbacks. It's their biggest worry about what a fire would do to those places. Heck in a county just north of Seattle they've gone to the county commissioners with their concerns, and it just falls on deaf ears. OK, sorry enough ranting.
 
Government restriction??? Not getting on your case Bud, but they are the ones that allow this kinda nonsense building to take place. More homes, more tax dollars. Talk to any fire marshal about what they think of these sub-divisions with 10foot setbacks. It's their biggest worry about what a fire would do to those places. Heck in a county just north of Seattle they've gone to the county commissioners with their concerns, and it just falls on deaf ears. OK, sorry enough ranting.

The restrictions I was referring to are those that prevent the fuels reduction ( open space, etc), not the housing density.

I fully agree that they have a hand in creating the situation by allowing these high density developments in the first place.

What I was trying to articulate is, are there organizations that cry foul when the notion of fire prevention via controlled burns, removal of under-story, thinning, etc are suggested to at least remove the massive amount of dry fuel available to fires like this?

I know it makes no sense to build in an area that provides the potential for what is going on now. You certainly would never sell me a house in an area with that high of a risk for massive fires.
 
It takes a disaster before folks take such things into consideration. There was a subdivision in N. AZ that didn't want any thinning done in or around it. Then the Rodeo Chensomething fire hit. Their area didn't burn, which was strange because it was the most likely to. However, afterwards they took thinning to heart and quit fighting it.

I'll bet those neighborhoods had covenants to restrict cutting trees. Look at how close the trees are to the houses!

People move to forested areas from the flatlands--Phoenix in the Arizona case, and they don't want any trees cut. They like trees in strange places. My neighbor had one growing out of the center of his house.
Decks were built around trees.

You can only do so much to try to convince people, but they sometimes come around after a big fire. From the size and locations shown in the photos, I think there must have been one heck of a view.

Our county finally quit letting folks build permanent houses in the flood plain.
 
It takes a disaster before folks take such things into consideration. There was a subdivision in N. AZ that didn't want any thinning done in or around it. Then the Rodeo Chensomething fire hit. Their area didn't burn, which was strange because it was the most likely to. However, afterwards they took thinning to heart and quit fighting it.

I'll bet those neighborhoods had covenants to restrict cutting trees. Look at how close the trees are to the houses!

People move to forested areas from the flatlands--Phoenix in the Arizona case, and they don't want any trees cut. They like trees in strange places. My neighbor had one growing out of the center of his house.
Decks were built around trees.

You can only do so much to try to convince people, but they sometimes come around after a big fire. From the size and locations shown in the photos, I think there must have been one heck of a view.

Our county finally quit letting folks build permanent houses in the flood plain.

Sounds like what it boils down to is the residents themselves buying into the developments then ignoring (or not realizing) the hazards they create.
 
Decks were built around trees.

No! Who'd do something like that? Sounds like a California thing to me. :msp_wink:

We have covenants here that restrict tree cutting. You've been to our place and seen how many pine trees we have and how close they are to the house. I applied for permits to take most of the Ponderosa out but the homeowners's association is protesting it. The tree committee is a bunch of people who have all moved here from someplace else. None of them have ever seen a fire storm. I asked.

I'll get the permits eventually but in the meantime I hope we don't have any fires.
 
Government restriction??? Not getting on your case Bud, but they are the ones that allow this kinda nonsense building to take place. More homes, more tax dollars. Talk to any fire marshal about what they think of these sub-divisions with 10foot setbacks. It's their biggest worry about what a fire would do to those places. Heck in a county just north of Seattle they've gone to the county commissioners with their concerns, and it just falls on deaf ears. OK, sorry enough ranting.

snohomish county i.e. just north of seatle now has a five acres or more policy and a moratorium on "developments" but don't quote me I'm not a lawyer...
 
does seem that around here a few people are getting the idea about fuel reduction, most of my logging albeit gypo... is thinning and danger tree removal. people are starting to see that that underbrush is awfully dense, but if they could just get their mower in their... maybe when a fire does hit it won't be so bad. Too bad more of em don't wake up and smell the charcoal
 
does seem that around here a few people are getting the idea about fuel reduction, most of my logging albeit gypo... is thinning and danger tree removal. people are starting to see that that underbrush is awfully dense, but if they could just get their mower in their... maybe when a fire does hit it won't be so bad. Too bad more of em don't wake up and smell the charcoal

I'm one of them with trees fairly close to the house. I'm more worried about slope stability and privacy.
My place is the island of trees surrounded by cleared land. I can't see it burning up unless we get something really strange going on. Tonight has been quite the lightning show here.
 
it's starting, fire season that is.

We now have a 13,000 acre fire on the Mendocino Forest, it is early but it is starting, it is supposed to
100* today and higher the rest of the week it has been nice until this week.
 
Yall need to gripe at the forest circus and have them get a wrangle on that fire. The smoke is flooding us up here. We are receiving way too many phone calls from acient retired Californian's wanting to know if we have a fire here. Their constant rambling and droning is wearing on our nerves.
 
Finally got our first lightning bust yesterday. It was a pretty good show, rolling thunder that would time out to 25 seconds of rumbling. A lot of nice strikes and incloud coloring. But we received about half an inch of rain. So far only one fire show up. Top of a 40" plus doug snag. Fallers have already put it on the ground. Cross your fingers. Pray its going to be a good money making fire season.
 
Last I heard SE Oregon had 900sq miles burned + lots of cattle.







Is windthrow a problem for you, slow p ?
 
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