Extensive review of Marshall Fire points to climate change, communication issues
An online report as deep as a hardcover book is now online, detailing a narrative of the Marshall Fire as well as what went right and wrong. "Mashall Fire Facilitated Learning Analysis" was compiled for the State Division of Fire Prevention and Control with extensive reports from people affected by the fire, emergency officials, law enforcement and firefighters.
The report is a bookend on the fire, for which a cause has still not been declared. But the message about future dangers in other wildland-urban interface fires is clear.
"Under a warming climate, with urban sprawl and a myriad of land management challenges, it is guaranteed that we will continue to see extreme events at any point in the year that burn large numbers of homes," the report states. The rapid spread of the fire, it blames on nature, noting the 100 mph winds: "Without the impacts of drought and multiple other environmental factors that set the stage for the fire to ignite and spread, the wind event would have been a non-factor."
"It's an excellent narrative," said Garry Briese, executive director of the association, Colorado State Fire Chiefs. "I've not seen a similar document like this before, but many areas of improvement are embedded in the narrative and need to be extracted."
Among the lessons outlined, the report goes heavily into communication. With so many first responders communication was hampered. The report indicates a need for a universal calling channel. There was also a need for more ambulances to evacuate, including at the Avista Adventist Hospital. Fire trucks had to be driven many miles to tank up on diesel fuel causing delays, hydrants ran out of water due to compromised lines caused by the plumbing of burned homes melting away. Even the backup pump for Superior's water supply was burned. The report suggests public works departments have detailed digital maps, but need to have documents ready to share with firefighters.
"You couple the Marshall fire with Waldo Canyon and Black Forest and East Troublesome; All were significant WUI (Wildland Urban Interface) fires," said Briese. "And if we haven't learned lessons from those incidents, Then shame on us!"
He noted how the lessons might be applied. "There are clearly areas that can be improved on, and everybody understands that. So we need to list out those, put accountability on them who's supposed to do it by what date, and then go back and check and see if it was done." Briese added that with more wildland-urban interface fires, the lessons go well beyond Boulder County. "When we have this happen, we have an obligation to ourselves our personnel and the fire service, law enforcement, and emergency management communities to analyze it and figure out what we can do to minimize that kind of chaos in the future."