COLORADO SPRINGS — The Cameron Peak and other Colorado wildfires have been burning for months. “The fires we’ve had, have been very resistant to control,” said Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, Deputy Chief Phillip Daniels. Several fires, including the Cameron Peak fire have been growing for more than two months. Firefighters are making a difference, but they could use and assist from a change in weather patterns.
Daniels was at the Cameron Peak fire when the unseasonable early snowstorm happened in September. It was a temporary reprieve. "The section I was assigned to, we got like eight inches of snow. Two weeks later it was actively, aggressively burning." The single storm was followed by a quick return to warm dry conditions.
Firefighters deserve credit for effort to slow and cut-off flames. They have diverted flames and saved structures. They also are limited when fires are burning across massive areas in rugged mountain terrain. “It's not realistic to look at a 100,000 acre or 200,000 acre fire and say we're going to put out every inch of that fire,” said Daniels, “The manpower it would take and the risk we would put those people at is just too high.”
“Fingers are crossed, we are really, really hoping that we get a change in our weather pattern," Daniels said. What firefighters need is a series of storms with significant rain and snow.
