Colorado man shares terrifying evacuation experience
By
John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 27, 2020 5:55 PM EDT
As the East Troublesome Fire rages on, a resident of Estes Park, Colorado, shares his story of what the evacuation out of town was like on Oct. 22.
Last week saw rapid intensification of wildfires across the West. The East Troublesome Fire in Colorado was among one of the fastest growing, spreading from 30,000 acres to 170,000 acres in just 24 hours.
Residents of many communities near the fires had to quickly evacuate with little or no prior warning due to the rapid intensification.
Gavin Fisher of Estes Park, Colorado, was one of several residents forced to evacuate their homes as the East Troublesome Fire posed an imminent threat to the community.
"We knew that the fire had traveled farther than any fire has overnight," Fisher told AccuWeather. "People were getting nervous in the days leading up and the smoke was so bad I was wearing my respirator breathing mask just for going around town and going to the grocery store," said Fisher.
The intense growth was fueled by strong winds blowing flames to the east and into the mountains.
"We all thought that there's no way this fire is getting to us because it has to go through the tundra to get down here. Somehow, before I even had time to doubt it, it had already made it over," he recalled. "If you haven’t seen it, haven’t been in it, you don’t really know how fast it moves and how quickly it can take you,” Fisher explained.
The East Troublesome Fire is now the second-largest in Colorado history in what has already been a record-breaking fire season for the state.
This year's fire season has gone on longer than any in modern memory for the state, and has now spawned three of the largest fires in Colorado history, according to The Washington Post.
"Every road I could see was completely backed up as far as possible. The traffic moved maybe a mile every hour and a half," Fisher said. "We went down Highway 36 down through Lyons and ... lines weren’t moving, and there was a whole train of cars that started driving on the opposite side of the road," he added.
East Troublesome Fire as seen from US-34 in Grand Lake, CO on Oct. 21, 2020. (CDOT)
Red flag warnings were in effect for much of the Rockies during the day due to the low humidity and high winds, creating "critical" fire weather just west of Estes Park.
In the scramble of evacuations and businesses quickly shutting down, only one gas station remained open and, for anyone on the other side of town, "you just couldn't get there," Fisher said.
Despite the mandatory evacuations in the area, some people insisted on staying despite warnings from authorities that 911 and emergency operations would not be responding to calls from those who stayed behind.
"If you want to stay up here, don’t count on emergency services. In the case of an emergency, we basically are completely on our own," said Fisher.
Heavy traffic amid evacuation orders in Estes Park, Colorado. (Instagram/@gavinfisherr)
The mandatory evacuation of Estes Park was downgraded to a voluntary evacuation on Sunday after the area was hit by a snowstorm that impacted a large portion of the northern and western parts of the country over the weekend.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office and Estes Park Police said the snow calmed the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires but did not extinguish them, and Estes Valley residents should remain prepared to leave within an hour at all times.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Severe Weather
Colorado man shares terrifying evacuation experience
By John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 27, 2020 5:55 PM EDT
As the East Troublesome Fire rages on, a resident of Estes Park, Colorado, shares his story of what the evacuation out of town was like on Oct. 22.
Last week saw rapid intensification of wildfires across the West. The East Troublesome Fire in Colorado was among one of the fastest growing, spreading from 30,000 acres to 170,000 acres in just 24 hours.
Residents of many communities near the fires had to quickly evacuate with little or no prior warning due to the rapid intensification.
Gavin Fisher of Estes Park, Colorado, was one of several residents forced to evacuate their homes as the East Troublesome Fire posed an imminent threat to the community.
"We knew that the fire had traveled farther than any fire has overnight," Fisher told AccuWeather. "People were getting nervous in the days leading up and the smoke was so bad I was wearing my respirator breathing mask just for going around town and going to the grocery store," said Fisher.
The intense growth was fueled by strong winds blowing flames to the east and into the mountains.
"We all thought that there's no way this fire is getting to us because it has to go through the tundra to get down here. Somehow, before I even had time to doubt it, it had already made it over," he recalled. "If you haven’t seen it, haven’t been in it, you don’t really know how fast it moves and how quickly it can take you,” Fisher explained.
The East Troublesome Fire is now the second-largest in Colorado history in what has already been a record-breaking fire season for the state.
This year's fire season has gone on longer than any in modern memory for the state, and has now spawned three of the largest fires in Colorado history, according to The Washington Post.
"Every road I could see was completely backed up as far as possible. The traffic moved maybe a mile every hour and a half," Fisher said. "We went down Highway 36 down through Lyons and ... lines weren’t moving, and there was a whole train of cars that started driving on the opposite side of the road," he added.
East Troublesome Fire as seen from US-34 in Grand Lake, CO on Oct. 21, 2020. (CDOT)
Red flag warnings were in effect for much of the Rockies during the day due to the low humidity and high winds, creating "critical" fire weather just west of Estes Park.
In the scramble of evacuations and businesses quickly shutting down, only one gas station remained open and, for anyone on the other side of town, "you just couldn't get there," Fisher said.
Despite the mandatory evacuations in the area, some people insisted on staying despite warnings from authorities that 911 and emergency operations would not be responding to calls from those who stayed behind.
"If you want to stay up here, don’t count on emergency services. In the case of an emergency, we basically are completely on our own," said Fisher.
Heavy traffic amid evacuation orders in Estes Park, Colorado. (Instagram/@gavinfisherr)
The mandatory evacuation of Estes Park was downgraded to a voluntary evacuation on Sunday after the area was hit by a snowstorm that impacted a large portion of the northern and western parts of the country over the weekend.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office and Estes Park Police said the snow calmed the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires but did not extinguish them, and Estes Valley residents should remain prepared to leave within an hour at all times.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo