Decker Fire

Huge growth today on this fire. Hope everyone is safe.
https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?par...lor-48-0-100-1&checked=map&colorbar=undefined

Damn.

More info here
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/6592/



These were taken yesterday from two different vantage points.
The smoke was not as heavy as before yesterday.

It's burning hot downhill on the north side, all new detects since mid-morning.

That area just can’t catch a break with fires

Today from the Poncha Springs.

They have every contributing factor in play for this to happen.

Helicopters have been buzzing back and forth to Pueblo Reservoir getting water

Couple sites for fire info
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6592
facebook.com/DeckerFire2019

From my backyard, picking up water in a beaver pond. Yesterday

It’s still a pretty tiny fire though.

Was out that way last week, and noticed the smoke headed out 50 east of salida. Got a bit smokey. Wondered if fire or preventative fire. Shame.

5800 acres as of tonight, still headed north toward Salida.
Near critical conditions, hope they can get a handle on it before it starts destroying structures.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6592/

We have had a ton of smoke from that the least couple evenings here in castle rock. Definitely not that small.

All I was getting at is that a 5800 acre wildfire is very small when you look at the sizes that actual big fires grow to. One back home in Alaska has been burning for a couple months and is around 170k acres. There are weeks straight at a time each summer when you never see the sun and can see less than a half mile because the smoke is so heavy.

That is absolutely true, if you look at the burn scars of the buffalo creek and Haymen fires, those are tragedies on a scale that we cannot afford to repeat.

Now up to 7000 acres, with the recent moisture perhaps a slowdown helps the effort.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6592/

And a closure order map

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/CORG...-Fire/related_files/pict20190910-155950-0.pdf

It really doesn't matter the size of the fire if it's your home and or property that burns to the ground.
My family has been displaced twice by fires here in Colorado, my parents by the Hayman Fire in Divide,
And myself by the Waldo Canyon fire here in C Springs.
When fire balls are landing around your house, one isn't concerned by the size, only survival.

From what I've read, since the Decker fire started in wilderness area it's only being fought where it's outside the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness area and approaching structures and Salida.
At 7,000 acres and still at 14% containment, they have it boxed in so it can run south into the wilderness area until winter weather puts it out (mid-November is one WAG) - the last news I read said they would start taking firefighters off to work on other fires.

I heard (from a guy who talked to the USFS) Dec 20th or so.

And yes, they fight it at the wilderness boundary. And if it's not near the boundary, they lead it there with aerial drops of PSDs (ping/pong balls) and by on-the-ground people with drip torches.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=532275624271644

So you don't get the wrong idea: the boundary where they fight the fire will have been pre-conditioned with lots of cleared ground separating the to-be-burned area from the protected area. Thus, they fight the fire on their terms where they want to fight it. At least, that's the plan. Mother Nature may have other ideas...