Colorado Fires

[JTM45]

I was supposed to be in Durango last week fishing the Animas but the guys at Duranglers said the smoke has been rough in the mornings and if I have lung problems it would be better to come this fall.

I feel for the people but the animals a little bit more

 

[Frogfur]

Flat Lux,

You are correct that we don't get 117 degree temperatures or 70 mile winds here in SW Colorado, and I'm not smart enough to know how to fight a fire in those conditions, and perhaps there is no way. Our highest temperatures are usually in the upper 80s -- maybe low 90s once in a while for a short time, and dropping to 50 degrees at night at the warmest. Winds are usually pretty calm. We might get a very short lived gust up to 40 mph, but sustained winds are generally mild. All I am saying is Colorado seems to be prepared to fight fires, given our conditions, IF homeowners do a bit of mitigation around their home. And when a fire approaches an area with homes, the residents are ordered to evacuate. Nobody here wants to die for their home, and nobody here (except professional fire fighters) has the equipment and knowledge to protect homes not even with mitigation. In June, we had some friends who had to evacuate staying with us, for example. In interviews with firefighters in the news paper, they praised the mitigation that had been done by residents in the fire's path, and stated that it allowed them to save 100% of the structures. Firefighters were on the scene within the hour after the 416 fire was reported. And ours has been a "tree fire", not a brush fire.

In plane and simple terms,
A fire break. I'm a big beliver in no fuel = minimal fire capabilities.
And steel roofs are a comfort.

 

[Dolebludger]

JTM 45,

You made the right decision in not coming to Durango at this time. The smoke does get rough at night and in the morning. Fortunately when we built our house, we put in central AC, which has been seldom used until this fire. It is cool at night and in mornings, but we can't leave the windows open due to the smoke. Also, the Animas is too low now (IMO) to afford decent fishing.

Frogfur,

There are a lot of "standing seam" steel roofs around here. Also, there are composition shingles with a class A fire rating like the steel roofs. Roofs made of combustable materials are just out of the question.

 

[Dolebludger]

Frogfur,

You posted about "rich people" building in fire prone areas. Well, here in Durango, you must have some pretty good money to live here, whether in a fire prone area or not. Any livable residence is priced at $250 to $300 per square foot. And in other communities in Western Colorado, it gets even worse. I saw a listing for a 1600 square foot house in Telluride priced at $1,900,000 -- well over $1000 per square foot. I don't know how it is on the Front Range, but here on the Western Slope house prices and rents are absurd. We bought our lot and built during the downturn of a decade ago. We could not afford our house today. We have a friend who would like to move to a place around here. I took the friend to the little town of Mancos to look at it, and the friend said it was fine. He had a maximum budget of $200,000 for a house of about 1000 square feet. I checked for him in the internet, and nothing is available for him, even there. And, if you have ever been to Mancos, you know that it doesn't amount to much. It has one paved street and little else.

What I mean is, all people who live in my part of Colorado are "rich people". Just some richer than others.

 

[Frogfur]

Frogfur,

You posted about "rich people" building in fire prone areas. Well, here in Durango, you must have some pretty good money to live here, whether in a fire prone area or not. Any livable residence is priced at $250 to $300 per square foot. And in other communities in Western Colorado, it gets even worse. I saw a listing for a 1600 square foot house in Telluride priced at $1,900,000 -- well over $1000 per square foot. I don't know how it is on the Front Range, but here on the Western Slope house prices and rents are absurd. We bought our lot and built during the downturn of a decade ago. We could not afford our house today. We have a friend who would like to move to a place around here. I took the friend to the little town of Mancos to look at it, and the friend said it was fine. He had a maximum budget of $200,000 for a house of about 1000 square feet. I checked for him in the internet, and nothing is available for him, even there. And, if you have ever been to Mancos, you know that it doesn't amount to much. It has one paved street and little else.

What I mean is, all people who live in my part of Colorado are "rich people". Just some richer than others.

Im thinking of Rifle.

 

[Dolebludger]

What's going on in Rifle?

 

[Frogfur]

What's going on in Rifle?

I'm thinking of buying a few acres over there to get away.