OPINION
Winds & fire

I was recently asked about this incident, so I thought I would tell it again. This last winter was snowy, but it has dried quickly and the fire danger can get high if we do not have regular rain.

Memories of this terrible fire have dimmed, but there are still some who remember. Word spread when a Colorado Springs Utilities crew spotted smoke on Cheyenne Mountain near the Broadmoor. The area was tinder-dry, like it has been recently. The fire burned toward then Camp Carson, and east toward what is now Stratmoor Valley. It was pushed by nearly 100 miles per hour winds. Fire departments from as far as Pueblo turned out. It was hoped that Highway 115 would be a fire break, but the blaze only jumped across. In fact, a bridge on the road went up in flames.

At its peak, there were some 5,000 people on the fire line. The fire destroyed a number of WWII buildings that had been used as a prisoner of war area. There were reports that twenty buildings had been lost in that region alone. Most of the available men at Carson, estimated at 3 to 4 thousand, were passed into service as the fire swept onto the post. Twenty-five people were treated at hospitals for injuries during the battle.

As smoke covered the terrain, the mountains could barely be seen from Fountain. As the fire entered a second day, some sections had come under control. The area between south Colorado Springs, the Myron Stratton Home and Camp Carson was contained first. As crews worked on the post fountain was under fire alert. However, a shift in the winds sent the fire back against itself.

The next threat was the fire in the Broadmoor. As the zoo, some of the animals had already been moved. The fire was fairly well finished on the third day. Some 5 to 6 square miles of land had been burned. However, people near the fire, who were able to survey their losses, felt they were pretty lucky.

This was I January 1953, only a few years before the first sight of Security and Widefield. Today there are many buildings where the fire once roared, along the site where today’s road travels past PPCC to 115 and NORAD. It might be different now. It could be worse.
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MEL'S ARCHIVE
April 11, 2007