Video Podcast - Inside The Two Largest Wildfires in Colorado History
Environment • Educational, Talk Show, 19-Dec-2021
How do you manage a wildfire that’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before? In 2020 when the two largest wildfires in Colorado history surrounded the town of Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park’s Fire Management Officer, Mike Lewelling, relied on twenty years of planning and fire treatments in Rocky along with a dream team of multiple fire agencies and our very own Alpine Hotshots crew to help save the town from burning.
However, those two things alone wouldn’t have saved Estes Park from the fast moving East Troublesome Fire. It was a rare weather event on the morning of October 22, 2020 that ultimately kept the fire from entering town, and it reminded Lewelling of a quote he once read from renowned chemist and microbiologist, Louis Pasteur. “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
Up Next in Environment
-
Snowpack in the Rockies
Snowpack in the Rockies is something we’ve been measuring since the days of the great Enos Mills. In this clip from film, ‘Nature of the Beasts’, Nick goes to Niwot Ridge (just south of Rocky Mountain National Park), home to one of the country’s major snow monitoring areas.
-
Living With Fire
Learn about how we can all live with wildfire and how to do your part to help reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire in the Estes Valley.
Estes Valley is home to several thousand full- and part-time residents, and a vacation destination for over five million visitors a year. With its pris...