Forest Fire – Not Your Average Engineer

September 17, 2017January 4, 2018

Driving Through the Eagle Creek Fire

On our way back from Courtney and Matt’s wedding, we drove through the Columbia Gorge just a few hours after they opened the west-bound lanes for traffic. The Eagle Creek Fire has been raging through the Gorge for a while and we were pretty surprised they let us drive through.

The fire is just a few hundred feet away through the trees at this point on the road.

We actually saw flames all the way down to the eastbound lanes.

There were fire crews parked all over the place on the eastbound lanes working on the blaze while we drove through. Crazy!

December 19, 2013December 26, 2013

The “I Do” Fire

In the middle of nowhere in Moffat County, I pulled off at a parking lot along the highway. Nothing but the road and a lonely set of power lines were visible in any direction.

It turns out that this is the site of the “I Do” Fire. The BLM sign reads:

On July 16, 1988, a lightning-caused wildfire burned over 15000 acres of public and private land here as far as they eye can see. The “I Do” fire, named for a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Firefighter who was married on that day, became the largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history.

BLM planted wheatgrass and rye in strips and at right angles to the prevailing winds, to reduce wind erosion until the area is revegetated.

The area is home to large numbers of deer and antelope as well as a variety of smaller mammals and birds.

As you can see, there isn’t much out here.