Fear of fires is hard to move past

A winter that brought half the normal amount of snow followed by a dry spring has many worried that the recent 117 Fire that claimed more than 40,000 acres won’t be the last major fire this year.

This week, Newschannel 13 will air a series of reports on all aspects of fire season, beginning with the fear that followed two of the worst fires in history, and how much of that is left today.

The skies over Black Forest have never been more visible, and the snow has never melted faster.

The ongoing rebuilding effort can be seen in the construction of homes that were lost almost exactly 5 years ago.

However, there are also empty slabs where someone opted not to rebuild their home or business.

Piles of dead trees still litter the landscape, while thousands more remain in place, much like the memories people here have of losing nearly 500 homes.

In the case of the Waldo Canyon Fire, most people remember the first flames coming over the mountain, and the tankers dodging plumes of smoke to desperately try to stop the flames from reaching the 346 homes eventually lost.

The 117 Fire in April is the latest reminder of how quickly a fire can spread under the right conditions, consuming 42,000 acres in just a few days.

The fear of another catastrophe is hard to quantify.

However, examining home sales in areas that experienced previous fires gives some insight.

Jeff Piggot, an associate broker with Re/Max Real Estate, is a longtime realtor in north Colorado Springs.

He researched the housing market in Black Forest for each year after the 2013 fire, and to his surprise, the frequency of sales held steady.

“I had assumed that were going to see a plummet, or we were going to see less sales after the fire, and I looked at the numbers, and the sales have stayed consistent,” he said.

But while the number of home sales after the fire didn’t much, the property values did.

They dropped significantly afterward, and it took about 3 years for them to recover to normal level.

Today, the housing market and overall economy in Black Forest have recovered almost entirely.

It’s a similar story in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, the community hardest hit by the Waldo Canyon Fire.

Dead trees in plain view from all points below serve as reminders of the fire, but homes here returned *even faster* than black forest.

Piggot believes the fire prevention resources available today allow families to purchase homes without worry.

“The mitigation efforts that are in place today, the free services that are available to someone that has a lot that needs an evaluation, have really relieved a lot of concerns of that,” he said.

Still, at least some fear is unavoidable, without knowing when or where the next big one will break out.

Tuesday, Shannon Brinnias will share what lessons Colorado can learn from the catastrophic fires in California.

Wednesday, Chase Golightly will take you to the area of most concern right now in Colorado Springs, the Cheyenne Mountain area.

Thursday, Stephanie Sierra will show you how to prepare your family and how many families in the danger zone are not prepared.

And Friday, Stacey Garvilla will have a closer look at how the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest environments have recovered.