FORT COLLINS, CO—As a massive plume of smoke billowed behind Drake HQ yesterday morning, what was first reported as a 2-acre wildfire has since engulfed more than 14,000 acres and torched 18 structures in the Poudre Canyon area. This is the second wildfire in two weeks to hit one of the few floatable rivers left in the state. Last week’s Hewlett fire sent an ash-laden runoff down the river which, according to the crew at St. Peter’s Fly Shop, temporarily sullied fishing in the lower Poudre. Local authorities say this weekend’s High Park blaze is the worst fire Larimer County has seen in the last 25 years. Evacuation notices have been served.
Via the Denver Post: “There was no containment Saturday evening. Helicopters and air tankers joined a ground crew of about 200 in the fight. Federal fire teams are expected to take charge of the fight today, officials said, when the blaze will be designated Type One—the highest firefighting priority.”
(Photos courtesy of Kat Yarbrough)
In other wildfire news, wind has played a role in fanning a lightning-sparked blaze in New Mexico’s Lincoln National Forest that jumped its containment lines and raced through thick conifer forests. Fire fighters said 20 structures were damaged or destroyed.
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.