Mark Stoller and his wife, Andra, moved to Falcon with their family in 2007. Both are U.S. Air Force veterans and enjoy life with their daughters, extended family and adopted rescue dogs in Latigo. Mark is fortunate to have his wife and daughters as his muse for topics, people to meet and places to investigate.
Preparing for fire season
By Mark Stoller
“Conditions are prime for a fire season more catastrophic than the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires.”
That statement caught my attention right away.
The cool thing about Andra’s bagpipe band is there are several world-class, seasoned firefighters who are members and share their knowledge with the rest of us.
From the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum exhibit about both fires: “Before it was fully contained on July 10, 2012, the Waldo Canyon Fire caused over 32,000 evacuations, the loss of 18,247 acres, the destruction of 347 homes, damage to hundreds of others, an untold economic impact to local business and a devastating blow to our collective sense of safety and security. Most tragically, the fire also resulted in the deaths of two residents in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood. The devastating Black Forest Fire of June 2013 destroyed over 500 homes, burned over 14,000 acres, and tragically claimed two lives.”
Are you ready to “get out of Dodge” if wildfire threatens the Falcon area as it did during the 2013 Black Forest Fire?
Do you remember the Ready, Set, Go lines that were drawn through our neighborhoods to prepare us for evacuation?
– READY: Prepare early
– SET: Extreme threat
– GO: Evacuate now
Here’s the Colorado Springs Ready, Set, Go page focused on wildfire season: https://coloradosprings.gov/ReadySetGo. Each stage has a checklist of items and preparedness activities for you to consider and complete.
Right now, start gathering items into “go bags” with three to five days of supplies and place them near the front or garage door of your home. People were killed in both fires because they were too slow to gather items or tried to gather too much before evacuating. They were consumed by the fire.
Two new applications we found will help you monitor the status of active fires and emergencies in El Paso County: 1) Reachwell and 2) Watch Duty.
Reachwell allows users to receive emergency notifications in the language of their choice. No personal information or accounts are needed. Select the language you would like to receive messages in and search for “Peak Alerts.” Emergency notifications for El Paso and Teller counties will alert the user’s phone.
Watch Duty is a service available on your phone and computer powered by over 150 volunteers — firefighters, dispatchers and first responders — who monitor radio scanners and other official sources 24 hours a day to send you the most up-to-date information on fires, prescribed burns and power outages across the entire U.S. Interactive maps and push notifications keep you up to date on the progress of any fire in the United States.
After packing “go bags” for your family, acquire paper maps of the area (either buy an old-fashioned map or print from Google Maps) and plan evacuation routes in all directions. Figure out how far you want to go in each direction and get familiar with back roads. Main highways will be slow and likely gridlocked.
Communication is vital. If family members work or attend school in different parts of the city, decide when and how you will communicate by text. Phone call bandwidth will be jammed, making texting the primary way to coordinate. Make a plan that everyone carries in their wallet, purse, or backpack.
Lastly, do not forget your pets — they are family members too and deserve to be cared for during an evacuation.
Think about it now. Be prepared. Move out calmly and with purpose.
