1/1/22

Weaponized wildfire not ruled out in Colorado's Marshall Fire


Colorado remains the only state without a state fire marshal so the causes of some of the state's largest wildfires remain unknown.

The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire was Colorado's costliest at nearly half a billion dollars until the Black Forest Fire the next year surpassed that. Were they accidents, pyroterrorism, or a lone psychopath deploying weaponized wildfire? 
A comparison to other states also indicates that Colorado’s investigative failures are likely missing dozens of arson fires each year. Just two percent of the state’s fires are determined to be arson, meaning that someone started a fire intentionally, rather than by accident. The number of human wildfires with undetermined cause is a big problem with a simple solution. “I've watched things change,” said Mike Morgan, director of the Colorado Division Fire Prevention and Control, who has spent 35 years in fire fighting in the state. “What the risks are and what we're asking our firefighters to do, what they're up against, you know, in this. I think it's time for change.” [Colorado Public Radio]
In October, 2020 the East Troublesome Fire incinerated nearly 200,000 acres of mixed timber and grass becoming the second largest wildfire ever recorded in Colorado.
The rapid growth of the East Troublesome Fire shocked firefighters and scientists, redefining how quickly Colorado wildfires can grow in an era of rapid climate change. Only now are scientists beginning to understand the forces behind the firestorm. Their insights could help inform a new set of tools to prevent and predict the most severe wildfires, but their overall assessment is bleak. As Colorado warms and dries, expect more events like the East Troublesome. [Colorado Public Radio]
It was believed early downed power lines caused the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, now the state's most destructive blaze. That firestorm forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and evaporated probably a thousand homes but Xcel Energy insists that isn't the case. Damage is expected to be at least a billion dollars.
Michael Smith, the incident commander, said the priority at the start was getting people evacuated. “We didn’t actively fight the fire for the first few hours,” Smith said. “It was about life safety.” [Boulder Daily Camera]
Self-reliance or moral hazard? Montana has the highest number in the US of residences in the wildland urban interface or WUI so that state's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation offers wildfire assessments and structure protection programs. 
Finally, communities and landowners will have to reconsider how and where development takes place in high-risk areas. The idea that people can build wherever they want isn’t realistic, and landowners will have to seriously rethink the reflex to rebuild once burned areas have cooled. [The Conversation]
But even government can't always protect you from your own stupidity. Rooftop solar is the future while burying vulnerable power lines is so last century. Utilities, insurers, county commissions, lenders and developers need to be held accountable for building tinder boxes packed so closely together that homeowners can see into each others bathrooms. 

Counties should be able to fine property owners who fail to create defensible space or clear dry fuels. Well-funded local and volunteer fire departments could conduct prescribed fires and burn road ditches to create buffers where contract fire specialists don’t exist. 
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