Rabbit Mountain Fires

Rabbit Mountain Fires

Hey everyone! I want to say sorry for not posting anything in a while. I have been working on a lot of changes lately with the blog and the app. I also went on a vacation recently to Europe and wasn’t able to write any posts there. I will try to keep to the schedule from now on. I also want to say sorry for having the website down for a couple of days the beginning of March. I was hacked and had a little trouble getting it to work again. I want to be as transparent for you guys as much as I can. So there we have it, I’ll leave you alone now and let you read the post. Enjoy!

Boulder County Fire crews put out a 151 acre wildfire over night near Rabbit Mountain just North of Boulder, CO. The fire began on Ute Highway at 5 p.m. and was initially only a 1 acre fire. With high winds and plenty of fuel in Rabbit Mountain’s hills of dry grass and brush, the fire quickly grew to over 100 acres.

Nine local fire departments responded to the fire including the sheriff’s Fire Management Program. Heidi Prentup, of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department reported that high winds drove the fire north initially. The dry and windy conditions made it easy for the fire to spread quickly. By 9:30 p.m., however, the fire was reported to be down to between 50 to 75 acres. (http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_30806981/boulder-county-fire-crews-battling-grass-fire-near)

According to the sheriff’s office, 75 households were told to evacuate the area. Most of the evacuations were lifted only a few hours after the fire was reported at 9:30 p.m.; the rest were allowed to return to their homes at 11:00 p.m. (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/crews-battle-brush-fire-on-green-mountain)

Target shooters turned out to be the cause of the wildfire. According to investigators, the shooters initially tried to put the fire out, but it grew too quickly forcing them to call 911 to report the fire. It is unclear whether or not any charges will be filed at this point. (http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/02/23/target-shooters-started-rabbit-mountain-fire/)

Evacuees were able to wait out the fire at Life Bridge Church in Longmont while the Boulder County Fairgrounds opened for large animals. No one has been reported injured and no animals are reported to have perished.

Though the fire was contained as of Tuesday morning, 25 firefighters remained on site attending to flare-ups and hotspots. According to Chad Bollacker, Hygiene Fire Chief, fire season has typically been considered an eight-month stretch, “Not anymore,” he says, “fire season is year round.” (http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/02/21/winds-whip-new-flareups-at-site-of-wildfire/)

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