East Troublesome Fire may signal new era of big blow-ups
By SAM BRASCHJanuary 31, 2021 GMT
DENVER (AP) Grand Lake Fire Marshal Dan Mayer never thought the East Troublesome Fire would make it to town.
On the morning of Oct. 21, 2020, the fire was still about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away from the vacation spot on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. The perimeter had crept east at a predictable pace for days. In the worst case, Mayer imagined it would lose momentum against Lake Granby, a large reservoir in the area.
Then the winds picked up.
“You had your expectations,” he said. “Then, when you saw it coming, it got scary.”
Michael Elizabeth Sakas/CPR News
Schelly Olson, the assistant chief for Grand Fire, stands among all that remains of her Grand Lake home on Nov. 13, 2020 after it burned down in the East Troublesome fire last year. Nov. 13, 2020.
As Schelly Olson walked around the charred rubble of what was her Grand Lake home, she pointed to a pile of things that survived the second-largest wildfire in state history.
“You can see my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law piled all of my silver from my grandmother,” Olson said. “We just kind of did some digging, and all the silver was right around here. This is the dining room area.”
The explosive progress of the East Troublesome Fire in Oct. 2020.
Grand Lake Fire Marshal Dan Mayer never thought the East Troublesome Fire would make it to town.
On the morning of Oct. 21, 2020, the fire was still about 20 miles away from the vacation spot on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. The perimeter had crept east at a predictable pace for days. In the worst case, Mayer imagined it would lose momentum against Lake Granby, a large reservoir in the area.
Then the winds picked up.
“You had your expectations,” he said. “Then, when you saw it coming, it got scary.”
Photo from Rocky Mountain National Park
Editor’s note: Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com for the past week.
With more than 27 square miles of Rocky Mountain National Park burned on the western side alone, recovery efforts for the iconic landmark will be extensive.
Chief of Resource Stewardship Koren Nydick outlined the park’s plan for emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation to Grand County commissioners on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The plan covered impacts like trail and road management, vegetation and wildlife, watershed concerns and cultural resources.
The East Troublesome Fire burned 31 miles of trails on the western side of the Rocky, known as the Colorado River District or Grand Lake’s backyard. Eighteen campsites and 13.5 miles worth of roads were also in the burn area.
Warm Hearts at an Icy Elopement
Sarah Bishop and Kacey Harris, who live in San Antonio, opted for a wintry wedding in the Rocky Mountains.
Sarah Bishop, left, and Kacey Harris were married Jan. 6 near Dillon Reservoir in Frisco, Colo.Credit.Larissa Welch and Bailey Boggs/We, The Light Photography
By Lois Smith Brady
Jan. 22, 2021
At their self-uniting ceremony in Frisco, Colo., on Jan. 6, the first thing Sarah Bishop and Kacey Harris did was play a round of rock-paper-scissors. That was their way of deciding who should say their vows first. The couple were standing beside Dillon Reservoir, which was frozen, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, covered by new snow and crisscrossed with animal tracks. The sun had just risen, but not the temperature. It was zero degrees. Ms. Harris won, so she began.