SB QST @ ARL $ARLB032
ARLB032 Colorado Fires Keep Hams Hopping
ZCZC AG32
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 32 ARLB032
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT June 10, 2002
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB032
ARLB032 Colorado Fires Keep Hams Hopping
Colorado ARRL Section Manager Jeff Ryan, K0RM, says Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers no sooner wrapped up their
support of efforts to deal with one wildfire when another erupted.
ARES teams now are helping to support efforts to battle a new fire
that got out of control over the weekend.
''No rest for the weary,'' Ryan said June 10. ''As support for the
Iron Mountain Fire near Canon City was winding down, a new wildfire
erupted near Lake George in the mountains approximately 30 miles
west of Colorado Springs.'' ARES volunteers from Park, Teller, El
Paso, Jefferson, Douglas and Elbert counties have responded to
support firefighters, law enforcement and the Red Cross, he said.
The latest fire--designated the Hayman Fire--is raging in the Pike
National Forest southwest of Denver and now has consumed some 30,000
acres. The fire is being considered very active and very dangerous,
Ryan said. It's being fanned by 30 MPH winds, Ryan said.
''Dense smoke from the blaze drifted throughout Front Range cities
and towns including Denver, Castle Rock and Colorado Springs and
occasionally reduced visibility to less than one-quarter mile,''
Ryan reported. He said that more than 1000 homes have been evacuated
and several thousand more are threatened.
Late last week, Ryan called Amateur Radio support for the Iron
Mountain Fire ''nothing short of outstanding.'' More than 1000
residents were evacuated near Canon City in Fremont County, some 100
homes and an additional 100 structures were destroyed.
Members of Fremont County ARES staffed a Red Cross shelter set up to
serve the evacuated residents in nearby Cotopaxi as well as the
incident command post and the Deer Mountain Fire Station. Hams from
Pikes Peak ARES staffed the Red Cross headquarters in Colorado
Springs.
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