Waldo Canyon BAER Emergency Stabilization Treatments Update -- 9/12/12
Incident: Waldo Canyon Fire Wildfire
Released: 9/12/2012
Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands
Waldo Canyon Fire
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER)
Implementation Update
Contact: Cathleen Thompson, BAER Information Officer (707-853-4243)
BAER EMERGENCY STABILIZATION TREATMENTS
CONTINUE ON WALDO CANYON FIRE
Colorado Springs, CO (September 12, 2012) - The Waldo Canyon Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team continues to implement emergency stabilization treatments.
Contractor Bradco Environmental is working with the Pike National Forest's BAER implementation team to aerially treat 3,038 acres with AgStraw and Woodshred mulch with helicopters. To-date, 2,751 acres have been completed by the contractor and 287 acres remain to be treated. The BAER team expects the remaining acres to be completed within 4-5 days, weather permitting. Within 7 days, the contactor will rehabilitate the staging areas that were used to store the material used for the mulching treatment activities.
Additional BAER stabilization treatments that have been completed are:
· Installed 50 "Flash Flood" warning signs along Forest Service trails and recreation areas.
· Installed 2 gates along Rampart Range Road for continued closure access to the burn area: One gate installed on the westside of the burn area and one gate installed on the eastside of Rampart Range Road (above Garden of the Gods area).
· Continued burn area closure for safety and protection measures.
· Removed hazard trees along the trails and within the recreation sites, stabilized 8 miles of trails, and removed hazardous debris on national forest system lands within the fire perimeter area.
· Removed hazard trees along Forest Service roadsides within the burn area.
BAER treatments that the Forest Service is planning to complete:
· Storm-proof 16 miles of Forest Service roads within the burn area, starting on October 1.
· Implement invasive weed detection surveys and apply an herbicide treatment.
On-Going BAER treatments:
· Storm patrol along Forest Service roads within the burn area, after rain events.
The Pike National Forest reminds the public that all trails and the entire fire perimeter continue to be closed to the public for its safety and the recovery of the natural resources.
The BAER implementation team coordinated their emergency stabilization treatments with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Colorado Department of Transportation, El Paso County, and the City of Colorado Springs along with other state and local agencies responsible for flood control and assistance to landowners downstream of burned area federal lands (http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/news/pas/2012 Fires/2012 Fires.html).
NRCS is also working cooperatively with the El Paso County Department of Public Works (DPW) and cities and communities adjacent to and downstream from the Waldo Canyon Fire burned area to evaluate potential threats to specific businesses, homes, and neighborhoods.
Federal assistance to private landowners is the primary responsibility of the NRCS through the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program (http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/news/pas/2012 Fires/2012 Fires EWP Assistance.html).
For Waldo Canyon BAER information, contact Public Affairs Officer Barb Timock at (719) 553-1415, or Cathleen Thompson at (707) 853-4243. Additional fire information is available at http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2929/. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PSICC NF.
###
