Manitou Incline closure, and Black Forest Park fire recovery
Black Forest Regional Park is still recovering from the Black Forest Fire that left it heavily damaged. The El Paso County Parks Department recently completed an assessment to determine the best trail plan for the park. The department, in conjunction with other county agencies, the Black Forest Trails Association, Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates and the […]
Annual Tree Giveaway to Aid Black Forest Fire Recovery
About 8,500 fledgling trees will get new homes on Saturday as part of an effort to reforest the thousands of acres charred by the 2013 Black Forest fire. Black Forest Together, a nonprofit organization devoted to recovery efforts following the blaze, will hold its annual event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire […]
Cleanup, Mitigation Continues Amidst Danger of Falling Trees Three Years After Black Forest Fire
Three years after the Black Forest fire burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed nearly 500 homes, the skeletons of charred trees are a constant danger amidst a massive cleanup and mitigation effort aimed at being better prepared for the next wildfire. “(The burn zone) still looks very much the same – a lot of […]
Volunteer Power Has Been Crucial to Rebuilding Black Forest
As Sherri Little surveyed a group of volunteers toiling in her Black Forest backyard on Tuesday, a Bible verse came to her mind and brought tears to her eyes. “Pity the man who falls without someone to pick him up,” she said. Little’s eyes fill with tears easily when she thinks of her life since […]
2 Years After Fire, Black Forest Faces New Challenges
BLACK FOREST, Colo. – Two years after the most destructive fire in Colorado history, homeowners in Black Forest face new challenges. Bill Mantia remembers exactly where he was the day of the fire. “I was in the back of the house,” he said. “I could smell smoke, and I could see the smoke and the […]
Two Destructive Wildfires in El Paso County on Unique Recovery Paths Two Places Two Recoveries Looking Forward
It was the worst of fires – and then came another one even worse. It was a fire in a subdivision and then it was one in a wooded, rural community. It was a fire of quick rebuilding and then it was one where the landscape won’t return for a generation. The month of June […]
Colorado Forest Service Gives 5,000 Trees to Black Forest Homeowners
The Colorado State Forest Service and the Arbor Day Foundation have donated 10,000 trees to residents of Black Forest in El Paso County and the Big Thompson Canyon in Larimer County. Five thousand trees will go to each community. In Black Forest, the trees will be given to homeowners who applied for them through Black […]
Southern Colorado Communities Prepare for Wildfire Season
BLACK FOREST, Colo. — Sparse branches are what’s left of the Black Forest Fire of 2013. “We can have this event over, and over, and over again. We’re not done with it,” said Margo Humes, Fire Marshall for the Falcon Fire Department. To prepare for the upcoming wildfire season, a firewise community meeting was held […]
Black Forest Community Continues Restoration Efforts
BLACK FOREST, Colo. – Restoration projects continue in Black Forest, nearly two years after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history devastated the area. The group “Black Forest Together” held a forest recovery symposium on Saturday. Community members learned how to restore burned areas and reduce wildfire risk in the neighborhood. “We are really never […]
Black Forest Residents Encouraged to Work Together to Mitigate Fire Danger
With record high temperatures, gusty winds and grass fires returning to the region in recent weeks, it was fitting that about 100 people turned out to Black Forest Saturday to talk about fire mitigation. “Another fire is on it’s way, it’s inevitable,” Cody Poole, a Black Forest firefighter, told the crowd. “We all have a […]