Longmont Fire Department rethinks risk in wake of Marshall fire

Less than an hour before the Marshall fire ignited on Dec. 30, burning down more than 1,000 homes in Louisville and Superior, another fire started north of Boulder that could’ve devastated northern Longmont.

The Middle Fork Fire started near North Foothills Highway and Middle Fork Road sometime after 10 a.m. on that windy day, but crews were able to quickly get it under control. It burned no structures and those resources turned toward the Marshall fire.

Janice Coen, a project scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, explained her modeling of the Middle Fork Fire to 9News last month. Coen’s simulation showed that if firefighters hadn’t been able to extinguish it as quickly as they did, the Middle Fork Fire could have grown even more rapidly than the Marshall fire, driving flames into and across northern Longmont.

The Marshall fire on Dec. 30 was fanned by intense and persistent high winds along the Front Range Foothills, according to the National Weather Service, with gusts from 70 to 100 mph. This dangerous wind combined with drought conditions through the end of the year, which dried out the fuels for the fire.

“I think the Marshall fire was eye opening for a lot of people, for a lot of firefighters,” Longmont Fire Assistant Chief John Weaver said.

Weaver said the incident has prompted the Longmont Fire Department to assess risk in a new way. He lives in Arvada, which went under pre-evacuation notice the night of the Marshall fire.

“I never thought of it,” Weaver said. “I don’t live in a place where I would’ve considered it. I think the thing is a lot of people don’t live in areas they’ve considered this (a possibility) before, and really we should be considering it.”

The Colorado State Forest Service’s wildfire risk viewer shows that while there may be almost no fire risk within Longmont city limits, north and west of the city including the Hygiene area have moderate to high risks.

Weaver explained that many of the fuels around Longmont are dry grasses, which can burn hot and fast but end quickly due to the limited amount of what can burn. He added that Longmont is relatively well protected as it’s surrounded by roads that provide a natural barrier to fires.

“That tends to stop it — until you put a 100 mph wind behind it,” he said.

He emphasized that the overall probability for such a situation in Longmont is low, since 100 mph winds aren’t all that common. The National Weather Service reported that the highest wind in Longmont on Dec. 30 was a 68 mph gust just before noon.

While unlikely, the Marshall fire has extended conversations about planning between the fire department and facilities farther into city limits.

“We’re going to reevaluate things at this point and start really looking at what risks we have in light of the Marshall fire,” Weaver said. “When the Marshall fire is evacuating nursing homes and hospitals in the middle of Louisville, that definitely causes us to pause and go, ‘Are we prepared for the same thing?’”

He encouraged people to  have evacuation plans so that they’re ready should something similar to the Marshall fire happen in the Longmont area. Folks can also go to www.nfpa.org for advice from the National Fire Protection Association about preventing wildfires.

Weaver cautioned, however, that that’s only so much people and fire departments can do when it comes to these types of extreme weather events.

“We’re well prepared, but when Mother Nature decides it’s going to do something, there’s nothing anybody can do,” Weaver said.