JOHN CARR
Firehouse.Com Contributing Writer/Photographer

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To date there have been more than 50,000 wildfires nationwide that have burned at least 3.6 million acres and more than 1000 structures. In the scheme of things saving Big Elk Meadow was but one battle in the war on wildfires. To the hundreds of people living there it was the only battle.

Wednesday
On Wednesday, July 17, 2002 a small fire was discovered burning along County Road 47, south of Estes Park, Colorado. Burning in rugged terrain and in extremely dry timber the fire quickly spread. By nightfall more than 400 acres were burning. The fire, which was human caused, forced over 100 homes to be evacuated.

Thursday
On Thursday the fire continued to expand. With resources at a premium and the forest conditions so dangerous firefighters were forced to stand back and let the fire burn. While efforts to protect area homes were undertaken, all other actions took a defensive posture. Local volunteers were compelled to patrol nearby highways to monitor the fire's spread. The flames climbed into the treetops and began a major run. Within hours the fire tripled in size. Unfortunately an airtanker making a retardant run broke up in the sky and crashed, killing both pilots on board. The tragedy brought a solemn reminder of the dangers of wildland firefighting and sent an already concerned community reeling. By nightfall the fire had burned more than 1200 acres and forced new evacuations.

Friday
On Friday morning Joe Hartman's Type 2 Incident Management Team took over the fire. Challenged by a rapidly advancing fire and few firefighting resources the new managers were also forced to deal with the air crash of the night before. The fire had also spread to within a half mile of Big Elk Meadow, a 160 home subdivision.

Big Elk Meadow is a remote valley community surrounded on all sides by tree covered ridges. Homes are either tucked into the hillsides, or built within the trees on a circular roadway at the base of the hills. While under mandatory evacuation orders, approximately 20 members of the Big Elk Volunteer Fire Department had remained behind. By noon Friday temperatures were up, the relative humidity was down. 200 foot flame lengths were visible burning on three sides of the fire as it moved to the north Firefighters providing structural protection in Big Elk determined that as many as 40 homes could not be defended should the fire descend into the valley.

With a handful of firefighters joining the Big Elk volunteers, Structural Protection Group Supervisors Chris White and Mike Tombolato instructed crews to begin mitigating savable homes. Firefighters with chain saws cut branches from trees while the remaining crews removed fuels such as firewood piles. By evening the fire had spread to 4000 acres.

While winds had pushed the fire north away from Big Elk Meadow the flames had reached the ridge top above the subdivision. The flames had spared the tiny community but it was only for a matter of time. With flames burning above them, the fire had also spread to both ends of the valley. By Saturday winds from any direction would force the fire into the valley. It was now a near certainty that at least some homes would be lost. With the changeover to the nightshift departing crews observed flames within 200 yards of some homes.

Saturday - The Battle for Big Elk
When firefighters arrived back in Big Elk on Saturday morning conditions were ominous. When the inversion cleared, flames that had been burning on top of the mountain were found to be within two hundred feet of several homes. It was no longer "if" but "when". When would the fire enter the valley and how many homes would burn. If the fire entered the valley from the south it would most likely burn across the only road into Big Elk. This would leave firefighters trapped in the subdivision. The fire would also have an opportunity to burn thru all of the homes on the east side. If the fire entered the valley from the north it could burn homes on both the east and west sides of the meadows. Finally the fire could drop down from above and run in both directions, destroying the entire community.

Firefighters had spent most of previous three days on the defensive. Overnight firefighting resources had improved dramatically. Three (20) person handcrews joined the foray. In addition to the 20 volunteers from Big Elk there were at least 30 additional structural firefighters ready to do battle. By noon more than 100 firefighters were in the valley. Word had also been sent that grounded airtankers were now able to fly. Operations Chief Jim Dunn huddled with his division supervisors and made a daring decision. Rather than being at the mercy of the weather, and the fire, the decision was made to take the battle to the fire. Fight fire with fire.

The three handcrews were deployed to the rear of the homes on the east side of the valley, nearest the advancing fire. They were instructed to cut more than 100 chains of handline (6600 feet). Engine crews began setting up pumps, hoselines and portable ponds. Once set up, engines were asked to prepare to foam all of the structures on the east side. This was to be done just prior to lighting backfires.

The decision to burn the eastern slopes of Big Elk was risky. There were thunderstorms in the area and the weather was expected to get worse. The fire could easily turn on firefighters and burn the homes they were attempting to save. Yet doing nothing could be more devastating. The order to begin backfires was given at 3:30 p.m.

Engines quickly applied foam to homes. As soon as one third of the houses were treated with foam handcrews began setting fire. In many cases the firelines were cut within 50 feet of the rear of the structures. Things went well. Fire was laid down beginning on the south end of the complex. The prevailing winds quickly moved the flames northward, exactly as managers hoped. The fire moved into the trees and ran up the side of the hill. Around 5:00 p.m. a thunderstorm entered the area. The winds increased dramatically and shifted direction. Flames that had been traveling up hill, and east, turned back on firefighters. Fire was suddenly heading directly at the rear of the houses. Engine and hand crews sprang into action and prevented the flames from crossing the fireline. In less than 10 minutes the wind had calmed and shifted back to its earlier direction. Firefighters were able to continue their burning.

By 6:00 p.m. the controlled burn was completed. Fire was burning uphill as supervisors had planned. Almost on cue the winds shifted once again from the south, to out of the north. As firefighters stepped back flames reached hundreds of feet into the air and put on an awesome display of power. In minutes nearly one half of the hillside was engulfed in flames. The fire raced up the hill burning almost all available fuel threatening Big Elk. The decision to fight fire with fire had worked.

All that remained was to patrol the area for slopover and spot fires. At 9:00 p.m. the day crews were released. The nightshift arrived. As the day crew left the area a gentle rain began falling on Big Elk. All of the houses had been spared. The fire grew very little overall on Saturday but fire managers knew they could not rest on their laurels. There was still much firefighting left to do.

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