Spring Fire evacuees face new threat

With the Spring Fire close to complete containment, a new danger threatens the homes of those who were evacuated from the fire.

Fire officials are expecting the Spring Fire to be 100 percent contained by the end of the month. So far the fire has cost nearly $32 million. The one thing firefighters had hoped for while battling the blaze has become a major worry for residents; the rain.

With the large burn scar surrounding homes, flooding from the rain is now the biggest threat. Dozens of residents gathered at a meeting Friday evening as officials warned of the danger that will come when the rain begins. Larry Sanders with the emergency management says if it starts to rain people need to be ready to move. Flood concerns are going to be a problem they will have to deal with for years. “We are in this for the long haul,” Sanders says, “we need to figure, depending on where you are at, up to 15 years potentially of flood hazards.”

Mike Bronoski attended the meeting, he lost his home in the fire. He says flooding has already started happening in his neighborhood, “We are already starting to see washups and we haven’t had the heavy rain.”

Officials saying sandbags and flood walls are the best way to protect a home from a flood but another concern for Kent Hay is mudslides. “If we get heavy rains, they are talking about that mountain that got burned up so bad above us could come down on us with debris flow or heavy mudslides,” Hay says.

Huerfano County is expected to see rain starting this Monday. Giving people very little time to get prepared.