Fires Bring Action to Colorado Horse Communities
Originally published by Nicker News Written by Randy Winter Feature phot0: Helen Richardson, Photographer, Denver Post [divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]EDITOR’S NOTE: Randy Winter is an experienced endurance rider, an active horse community member, a Best Horse Practices Summit sponsor, and creator of Rein Safe. He sent this report from his home in Boulder, Colorado, which the Middle Fork and Marshall fires narrowly missed. Those fires forced the evacuation of 35,000 people and destroyed 900 homes.[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”] Randy Winter writes: December 30 was quite a day. The wind was howling. Around 11 am, we saw emergency vehicles go by and saw smoke just west and south of us. A friend lives directly in that area and she kept us posted on the progress of what would quickly be named the Middle Fork Fire. We prepared to evacuate. The fire roared past us to the south. Fortunately, fire crews got this fire under control quickly. But then we started hearing about a new fire, dubbed the Marshall Fire. This fire was 15 miles south of us. We had winds of 80 mph. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is located in this area because of high winds generated by the terrain. Huge wind turbines dot the landscape. Winds funnel down through the canyons like when you put your thumb over the end of a hose to increase the distance of water spray. The Schnook winds can be fierce as they travel west to east coming down out of the Rockies. Officials […]
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