Timeline of the deadly and devastating Black Forest Fire
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pikes Peak Region hadn't even crossed the first anniversary of the Waldo Canyon Fire when the unthinkable happened again. It was June 11, 2013, when the first reports of smoke were made in Black Forest. Those reports would challenge what was then Colorado's most costly wildfire -- and surpass it.
"It was dispatched as an 'other fire,'" remembers Colorado Springs Fire Lieutenant Jeff Wanderscheid. "We were responding, kinda going, 'Why are we responding to this little area?'"
He was one of the first to be called to help put out what would become the Black Forest Fire.
The weather was eerily similar that June: Red Flag Warnings, 95-degree heat, with a scant 4-percent humidity. Any whiff of smoke -- and it was immediately reported -- a fallout from many having experienced the frantic week of the Waldo Canyon Fire. And this, was no different: many called 911 to report smoke in the Black Forest area.
By the time Lt. Wanderscheid arrived near the ignition point, near Highway 83 and Shoup, "It was quickly getting out of control," he said.
"As we were trying to connect our hoses and move on, we tried to spray some water and there was nothing there. There was no water."
The fire had enveloped the hoses -- burning chunks of them away -- and wrapped behind the two firefighters.
The two rushed out of its way, just as the fire was crowning their fire engine.
Not long after, the fire was growing and clearly visible from across Colorado Springs -- and every imaginable resource, from the air and ground -- was working to contain the fire.
One day into the Black Forest Fire, the news no one wanted to hear: the bodies of two people reported missing were discovered. Marc and Robin Herklotz -- both employees at Schriever Air Force Base -- were identified. The two had been packing their belongings when the blaze overtook their property.
A total of 38,000 people fled during the inferno; it consumed a total of 489 homes.
After nine days, the Black Forest Fire would be contained, but its scars would remain for many years to come.
Ten years later, the Black Forest Fire would remain an open investigation; no arrests have been made.
