Craig's Report - April 16, 1999


Fire on the Mountain - Scary Stuff

Picture 1
(Highline Fire)

I didn't ski today and wasn't going to post a report, but I happened to get some pictures of a rather scary fire in the Highline subdivision and thought I would share them.


 


(Highline Fire)

About five thirty a fire truck raced up the Ski Hill road. This is a rather unusual event as we have only had fire department coverage up on the hill since last July. Since the decision to get and pay for fire protection wasn't without some controversy, I rationalized I should head up and see what was happening and perhaps collect some supporting evidence. Of course I am also as drawn to rubbernecking a fire as the next guy.


 

Picture 1
(Highline Fire)

What I found was much more than expected and more than a little frightening. At least one large building that was under construction beside the Cedar Ridge complex was totally engulfed in flames and nearby trees and buildings were also being threatened. I originally thought and reported that these were two new Cedar Ridge 4plexes, but I have since heard that just one 4plex that is not part of that complex. If it was a single building it was a very large one, for there was a significant fire well back from the street.


 


(Highline Fire)

During our fire protection discussions it had often been bandied about that all the fire department would be good for up here was possibly stopping a fire from spreading to other structures or the forest. It only took one close up look at this blaze to realize just how vital a function that is. It certainly made any consideration of whether reductions in fire insurance rates would be enough to cover the increased property tax seem pretty lame.

The fire guys did, to my inexperienced eyes a great job of containing the fire and had everything under control in probably less than half an hour. One could only imagine what might have happened if this had occurred on a hot, dry and windy August day rather than on a calm day in the spring.

As far as I know there were no injuries and structures can be replaced. However this must be major blow to the developers.

Although I didn't ski I did hear from friends that it was much like it has been the last few days.

At 6:50 P.M. it is 18 C (!) on the porch and still sunny.

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