National science organization releases report on Waldo Fire
The Waldo Canyon fire made history as it swept through Colorado Springs more than three years ago.
Now, a report details the response of the firefighters during those dark days in 2012.
National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), which conducted a three year study.
NIST presented their findings Wednesday.
One of the main findings is about the response of the firefighters.
Alexander Maranghides of NIST said, “The firefighters were very effective in containing and suppressing the fire.”
But it wasn’t all good news for firefighters – or the people of Colorado Springs.
One of the problems highlighted in the NIST report was the lack of spacing between the houses in some of the Mountain Shadows neighborhoods.
Once the wind driven fire made its way into the neighborhood it was easily able to get from house, to house, to house.
The scientists at NIST had some suggestions on how to make areas like Mountain Shadows less vulnerable next time there’s a fire.
“Let’s put the green space on the outside to create a buffer between the…vegetative (fuel load), between the potential wildland fire and the community,” said Maranghides.
Growth continues in the area known as the Wildland Urban Interface – or WUI.
Brett Lacey, the fire marshal for Colorado Springs said, “I think the fact that we’re encroaching more into the forested lands is going to continue to increase and exacerbate our (WUI) problem.”
Lacey says some progress has been made since the Waldo Canyon fire when it comes to mitigation.
“That is a huge compliment to the community to the neighbors that live up there,” he said.
But it will take a lot more to make sure that the next fire is less destructive than Waldo Canyon.
It was the most destructive fire in state history until the Black Forest fire destroyed more than 500 homes and killed two people a year later.
After more than three years of study, the National Institute for Science and Technology has published a report on the Waldo Canyon Fire.
The report is a comprehensive look at the response to the fire and has recommendations on how to handle similar fires in the future.
We’ll have more details on what the report says later on today .
