This morning I interviewed Ken Hughlett who works in Emergency Management for the utility company. During the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires Ken was the director of the Emergency Center. During the Black Forest he was helping to manage the evacuations and trying to figure out what neighborhoods should go on evacuations depending on the direction of the fire. People knew that their was a potential that the Waldo Canyon fire could come over the ridge, but people did not expect the fire to come over as quick and fast as it did. With Waldo Canyon fire the response was slower, because the firefighters had hike to and find the fire in the Waldo Canyon. Black Forest was easier to get to, because there is lots of access to the Black Forest. Since both fires there are better response plans and to send multiple resources. The goal is fore another fire is to act quicker and respond quicker to the fire. Ken mentioned that foe both fires we used resources from across the country and within the state of Colorado. Then we also used military resources like the National Guard and resources from Fort Carson an Army base in southern Colorado Springs. When I asked Ken what people can do to help prevent fires especially in the forest area. People can do better forest management around their houses especially with the dead trees which would reduce the fire load. Zeroscaping will also help, but mulch still catches on fire and then can burn the house so making sure that the mulch is further away from the house so the firefighters can fight fire around the house and save the house. Both fires affected Ken professionally, because it changed the functions in the utilities operation center. Moisture is a delicate process, because when we have a ton of moisture there is growth and it creates certain fuels for a fire.
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