A more detailed account from an email is pasted below, but the shorthand here.
10/22
Learned that the East Troublesome fire in Grand County had made an unprecedented run of 20 miles overnight and then jumped the Continental Divide. It forced all of Estes Park and my parents to evacuate. It was dark as night in Estes Park during the evacuation, despite being midday. It took my parents several hours just to be able to get out of Estes and the canyon. It was scary thinking the house and my house might burn. It was a tense day.
10/23
It snowed in Montana. Weather was also better in Estes in terms of keeping the fire in-check (near zero temperatures, higher humidity, and a dusting of snow). It made for a more relaxing day, but the weather forecast told us the next day would be the make or break period.
10/24
Winds flared up overnight (and when I say winds, I mean 70-100 mph gusts with 40-50mph sustained, not uncommon at all this time of year, in fact common, except normally there is snow on the ground in the mountains and no fire raging) and caused the fire to make a run pretty quickly to the Rocky Mountain National Park border. It was very tense: watching the updates on twitter, satellite images, etc; listening to the dispatch radios and communicating with mom, Aunt M, and bro. And waiting, waiting for that forecasted snow storm to hurry up!
The firefighters managed to hold the line! Thank you firefighters! And the storm arrived just in time and Estes was saved. We celebrated that night with Champagne!
10/25
Estes received a total of 20" of snow, effectively putting an end to the fire threat. Hot pockets continued to burn and the drought continued after the snow, so it wasn't for another week until residents were allowed back to Estes, and over a month later before the fire was considered 100% contained. But even when we visited Estes nearly a month later and hiked a viewpoint to look into Moraine Park, we saw firefighters watching a smokey area.
Here is the more in-depth account of the fire. I posted it to facebook with pictures, where it might be more interesting to read...
A photo story of how my hometown of Estes Park was saved from a nasty 3-headed fire dragon by heroic firefighters and a giant snow bunny. (the pictures and captions are probably more interesting than the story)
I can't possibly extend enough thanks to the firefighters. Their job is tough. It's dangerous, it's smoky and dirty. They face high temperatures when near the blaze and sub 0 temperatures when the storm hit. The homes they were tasked to save are someone else's yet, they would fight for them like they were their own. The fight itself is tough, but they give up their summers. They spend months away from family, friends, home, and community. A few of my friends were fighting this particular fire, but to all my firefighter friends across the country, Thank You. Thank you from the bottom of my heart
It was a tense several days for the lovely folks of the Estes valley, and it won't fully be over until we receive further significant snowfall. But for the time being, the brave firefighters with help from mother nature have stopped the beast in its tracks, roughly 1.5 miles from my parents house and ~0.5 miles from the NP boundary.
For roughly a week, Estes Valley had been witness to the leaping flames of the Cameron Peak fire to the North (Colorado's largest fire ever). Despite its proximity to the town, the typical wind patterns meant that this fire would unlikely threaten Estes; however, it would force the evacuation of the nearby hamlet of Glen Haven.The night of Oct 21/22 the East Troublesome fire, which had started in Grand county exploded and made an unprecedented run of 20 miles east towards the Continental Divide. This wide bastion of granite, glaciers, tarns, and treeless tundra would surely hold the inferno in check and protect the east side of RMNP. To my surprise (and those of several experts), the fire quickly and easily JUMPED the divide. How quickly I had forgotten about the power of the Estes Park wind. The same wind that would lift us off the ground at recess if we'd open up our jackets, the wind that would blow our trampoline several hundred meters up the mountain even when we staked it out, the wind that regularly shook the house in such a manner that visitors wondered if they were experiencing an earthquake.
With spot fires reported on the East (Estes Park) side of the divide, an evacuation of the valley was quickly dialed up. My parents had no time to grab treasures or valuables. The traffic out of Estes (with several of the escape routes closed due to fire) crawled as the fire appeared to be moving faster than the cars. It took mom over an hour to go the couple of miles from beaver point to Dieder's donuts. But all made it out safely. A small front moved in with high RH, below freezing temps, light winds, and even a bit of snow. This helped to stall the fire temporarily, but we knew the strong west winds were coming the next day. As my dad said, Saturday "would be the day of reckoning".
I slept fitfully and when I woke up, it was to a tweet from a local newscaster that the fire had grown rapidly overnight and was expected to have breached the park border by sunrise. Not good considering our house is a mile from the boundary. Winds were strong (60mph) and gusting stronger. RH was low and dropping. Temps were warm and rising. But there was a bit of good news. A wet storm was going to be tailing the wind. Forecasted to hit at 9pm. The firefighters just needed to hold until then. But 9pm was so far away!
It was so hard b/c there was nothing I could do. I put on my RMNP fire crew sweatshirt in support. I was watching NASA satellite images and listening to the fire radio scanner. We cheered when winds died for just a second to allow brief helicopter support. We cheered louder when they gave the call to let the firefighters "go direct" (fight it on the offensive instead of defensie) in Moraine Park. I was glued to a local anemometer, waiting for the to switch from west to east as was predicted in the evening. The text string between me, bro, aunt M, and mom was pretty intense (and at times funny).
Finally the radar started showing precipitation on the close horizon (in the shape of a bunny on one model). Then light precipitation surrounding Estes. Then the wind switched direction and heavy snow was shown on the webcam! Estes had been saved for the time being!
Elisha and I popped the cork on some champagne, cheersed the firefighters and the snow, and actually got some better sleep. I don't know what the final totals were, but I think Estes got around 20" of snow, putting the fire to sleep for now. My parents were finally moved from mandatory to voluntary evacuation yesterday and were able to make it home. #mimosaswithjudy
Here are the photo captions from the facebook post
You can see the fire dragon heading straight towards our house (star) and the town
But firefighters, such as this former ROMO alpine hot shot, stood heroically in the way
And moving slowly in as reinforcement was a giant snowstorm in the shape of a rabbit...the snowbunny
Around 11pm, the snowbunny arrived at full force
(RMNP webcam on Twin Sisters looking towards Longs Peak)
Overnight the snowbunny dropped approx 20" of fluff
(photo cred: Lisa Foster)
When the snowbunny arrived in full force, we popped a bottle of champagne and cheersed the firefighters and snow
The texts amongst mom, bro, aunt M, and me were full of stress, but often some humor made its way in
Throughout the day I wore my RMNP wildland firefighting sweatshirt to support the firefighters.
This is NOT the East Troublesome fire that threatened Estes. Instead, this is the Cameron Peak fire that, due to the standard direction of wind, was never really a threat to Estes despite its proximity. However, it did affect Glen Haven.
(photo credit: Art Messal maybe?)
Snow at last!
(Denver Post)
You can see the head of the fire dragon heading towards the town. Red star is our house
With smoke obscuring views and air support unable to fly due to high winds, an afternoon NASA satellite provided the best look into the extent of the fire
Around 8pm, the wind finally switched direction and began blowing from the east, pushing the fire back on itself and away from Estes!
Looking at the fire's progression. Red star is our house
What a great sight to see firefighters shoveling snow instead of digging fire line
(Denver Post)
What a great sight to see firefighters shoveling snow instead of digging fire line
(Denver Post)
Location of Estes Park in relation to the 2 biggest fires in Colorado history: Cameron Peak and East Troublesome
Ma and Pa celebrating the morning after the big snowstorm at their evacuation locale outside of Boulder #mimosaswithjudy
Thank you firefighters!
(p.c. LF Stringfield)
Thank you firefighters!
(p.c. LF Stringfield)
Thank you firefighters! (Former RMNP Alpine Hot Shots)
(p.c. LF Stringfield)
Thank you firefighters! (Former RMNP Alpine Hot Shots)
(p.c. LF Stringfield)
I still tear up even now (January 9, 2021) re-reading this. It was so emotional, and so much appreciating to our wildland firefighters
