Flash flood danger looms in Waldo Canyon burn area

State and local officials say they’re worried the scorched hillsides left by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs last summer could mean intense flash flooding this spring and summer.

Gary Heller, maintenance foreman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, tells The Gazette that “before the fire, it was like we had a golf course on the side of the hill and it absorbed water. Now it’s like a parking lot and absorbs nothing.”

Some worry the waterways in the burn area will pick up debris that could damage homes, bridges, culverts and streets.

But government agencies and environmental groups have started mitigation efforts and funded two studies to help direct future efforts. Greg Langer with the Natural Resource Conservation Service says the odds of any part of the area being flooded are 50-50.