{"id":1312052,"date":"2019-07-02T21:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T03:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/midvalley-reflects-on-one-year-anniversary-of-lake-christine-fire\/"},"modified":"2019-07-02T21:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T03:08:00","slug":"midvalley-reflects-on-one-year-anniversary-of-lake-christine-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/midvalley-reflects-on-one-year-anniversary-of-lake-christine-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Midvalley reflects on one-year anniversary of Lake Christine Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A helicopter makes an air drop over the Lake Christine Fire in July 2018.<\/strong>
Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The evening of July 3, 2018, was one of those \u201cWhere were you when?\u201d moments that will stick with thousands of Roaring Fork Valley residents for their lifetimes.<\/p>\n

Months after the flames of the Lake Christine Fire were snuffed, the memories remain seared in the consciousness of people who evacuated their homes, feared for their neighbors\u2019 well-being and watching with high anxiety as the firefighting effort raged.<\/p>\n

It was a legacy moment for the midvalley in the eyes of Basalt resident Cathy Click.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became a very real possibility that people on both sides of the hill and up the Frying Pan might lose their property,\u201d she said recently. \u201cLooking up on July 4 was scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click and her husband, Bernard Moffroid, were among hundreds of homeowners in Basalt, El Jebel, Missouri Heights and points in between who were ordered to evacuate. They left their home in the Hill District of Basalt on July 4 after serving breakfast at Caf\u00e9 Bernard, which they owned at the time.<\/p>\n

Click said what stuck with her after conditions calmed down were people\u2019s stories of how rattled they were in the thick of the chaos. A lot of people think in advance about what prized possessions to take when disaster strikes, but so few can carry through.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mind goes blank,\u201d Click said.<\/p>\n

One friend admitted to taking a juicer, she said. Bernard took 12 pairs of jeans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose types of stories stick with you,\u201d Click said.<\/p>\n

The fire remains on the minds of so many people because the burn scar remains so visible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how you can\u2019t think about it when you look up that hill,\u201d Click said.<\/p>\n

fire\u2019s infancy<\/p>\n

The Lake Christine Fire broke out at the shooting range at the Basalt State Wildlife Area shortly before 6 p.m. on July 3 when a couple fired tracer ammunition from a rifle. The fire quickly spread among the dry grasses and pinyon and juniper trees covering the hillside on lower Basalt Mountain.<\/p>\n

Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Chief Scott Thompson was worried that the valley\u2019s usual prevailing winds from the west would push the fire toward the Wilds luxury housing complex and toward the Hill District of Basalt.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally we anchor and flank the fire. We pinch it off,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI knew there were wet hay fields right above it. I really thought we had a chance (to pinch the fire off) but the weather took it and blew it out to the west.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the unusual weather patterns of last summer\u2019s drought, the evening wind came from the east rather than the west.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never to this day still believe that a fire would burn downvalley in this valley,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

BASALT SAVED<\/p>\n

July 4 started with uncertainty and ended ominously for midvalley residents. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear to lay people that the fire still posed a danger. It was out of sight in the state wildlife area, if not out of mind.<\/p>\n

Thompson said seven air tankers made round after round to try to prevent the fire from overrunning Basalt that day. A ground crew created a fire line above the town. A second, contingency fire line was created to burn off as a last resort. The tankers had limited success keeping the fire in check.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why in the afternoon we ordered that DC-10,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

The mammoth aircraft dropped retardant that helped hold the fire line. Mother Nature assisted because, for the second day, prevailing west winds weren\u2019t an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cA wind event at the right time in Basalt and we would have lost hundreds of homes,\u201d Thompson said in mid-June while reflecting on the nearly 1-year-old events.<\/p>\n

DANGER BLOWS DOWNVALLEY<\/p>\n

While Basalt was saved, some of the most dramatic firefighting was still to come.<\/p>\n

Downed and dangling power lines made it impossible for Thompson to send in firefighters to contain the fire. Once dusk fell July 4 and air operations were ceased, the insatiable fire popped over the ridge high above Highway 82 and started snaking down the steep slope.<\/p>\n

Before long, the winds that had befriended firefighting efforts turned into the enemy.<\/p>\n

Thompson said 40 mph winds out of the east that weren\u2019t forecast by the National Weather Service drove a firewall downvalley toward the El Jebel Mobile Home Park.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s miraculous that the fire didn\u2019t dive over the ridge farther upvalley in one of numerous subdivisions embedded in thick, dry pinyon and juniper forests, Thompson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have come down Aspen Mesa. It could have come down Hillcrest. It could have come down Original Road,\u201d he said. \u201cI have no idea why it came down into El Jebel like it did. It was all wind-driven. There was no weather forecast to tell us that was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it had crossed the ridge farther upvalley, it doesn\u2019t take much imagination to envision the wind blowing ember showers across the highway, igniting dry ground in Willits and Sopris Village and threatening hundreds of homes and businesses, Thompson said.<\/p>\n

The way it played out, though, it took a heroic effort by about 40 firefighters on the eastern edge of El Jebel and additional crews up in Missouri Heights to check the fire.<\/p>\n

FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE<\/p>\n

Crews overseen by Greater Eagle Fire District Chief Doug Cupp used flares at just the right time to start a fire that stopped the momentum of the wildland fire roaring toward El Jebel.<\/p>\n

Two homes in a gully adjacent to the trailer park couldn\u2019t be saved.<\/p>\n

Up in Missouri Heights, crews led by veteran Basalt firefighter Cleve Williams weren\u2019t able to save Williams\u2019 own house but prevented the fire from spreading.<\/p>\n

Thompson said a vegetation reduction project on federal lands east of the trailer park that was undertaken several years ago helped the firefighting. In addition, irrigated lands on Ace Lane\u2019s property helped slow the approaching fire.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, to countless witnesses watching from the parking lots of Whole Foods, City Market and Movieland in the early-morning hours of July 5, it was a vision of hell. Smoke clogged the air and was lit orange by the flames. Ash rained down. Sirens wailed and there was a constant popping from natural and manmade materials consumed by the flames.<\/p>\n

Again, luck was on the midvalley\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have fires, it\u2019s just when,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cLast year was when. We dodged a bullet. We should have lost 100 homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many people, the Lake Christine Fire will be hard to forget for years. John Katzenberger gets a daily reminder.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day when we come home we see the fire line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Katzenberger and his wife, Debora Jones, have lived for 40 years in a rural subdivision on the southern slope of Basalt Mountain, at the top of Cedar Drive. Residents of the area were among those evacuated the longest during the fire because of an ongoing risk. It was a hectic week but the first days were the toughest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no word,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know if our house was going to be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRAUMA AND REBIRTH<\/p>\n

As the executive director of the Aspen Global Change Institute, Katzenberger is a man of science. While no expert on fire ecology, he is fascinated to watch how the mountainside is returning to life. Areas that \u201clooked dead last fall\u201d are showing signs of green \u2014 oak brush shoots growing from blackened, lifeless trunks of older plants and carpets of neon green grass sprinkled with hearty yellow flowers rising from ashen soil. But there are thousands of charred pinyon and juniper trees in lower elevations and singed conifer trees on higher slopes. The mountain will take years to recover.<\/p>\n

Michelle Muething, executive director of the Hope Center, said wet conditions this winter and spring have helped many people shake off concerns of a repeat fire. Nevertheless, the high anxiety of July 3 through 5 still weighs on some people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no getting over it. It\u2019s stuck in people\u2019s heads,\u201d Muething said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of people\u2019s story now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hope Center helps people at a time of crisis, be it personal or on a broader scale such as the fire. The fire department referred several people to the Hope Center last summer after the fire broke out.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople didn\u2019t know how to cope,\u201d Muething said.<\/p>\n

One client was affected by the constant presence of helicopters flying over as part of the firefighting effort. A helicopter was flying over his house every 12 minutes, 14 seconds.<\/p>\n

Other clients had ongoing fears they were going to get a late-night knock on the door telling them they had to evacuate the area.<\/p>\n

Thompson hopes people put their memories of Lake Christine Fire to good use. He urges people to be prepared for emergencies that might force them out of their homes for extended times. People should have a \u201cgo kit\u201d prepared with clothing, medications, important papers and prized possessions. They must also have a plan in case something like a fire prevents them from returning to their home when they are at work or out.<\/p>\n

HEIGHTENED AWARENESS<\/p>\n

The fire department has seen an increase in the number of people calling for a free assessment of wildland fire potential on their property. Whether they are following up and hiring a contractor to perform the recommended work or blow it off is tough to say, Thompson said.<\/p>\n

The biggest step people can take to be prepared is to sign up for alerts that are delivered via social media from the county governments, Thompson said.<\/p>\n

He was frustrated that only about 50 people showed up at a recent meeting to discuss the threat of flooding and debris flows from the fire burn scar.<\/p>\n

And while the wet conditions have eased fire concerns for now, the grasses and some other vegetation types will dry out by August without monsoons in July. The fire threat could return.<\/p>\n

Thompson is resigned to the fact that he will be talking about the Lake Christine Fire for the rest of his life. It comes up constantly at community events or he\u2019s asked to talk about it for special groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going away,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of my history, I guess. I pray a lot that it won\u2019t happen again between now and retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A helicopter makes an air drop over the Lake Christine Fire in July 2018.Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times The evening of July 3, 2018, was one of those \u201cWhere were you when?\u201d moments that will stick with thousands of Roaring Fork Valley residents for their lifetimes. Months after the flames of the Lake Christine Fire were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 00:22:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}