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"The Storm Mountain Incident"
Pollution of our
National Forest Streams
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Contamination to Storm Mountain Properties
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April 2nd, 2004 - "Picnic Rock Fire" Declared State Emergency... Governor, Bill Owens, today declared the, "Picnic Rock Fire", a state emergency freeing up State funds to help fight the blaze... The fire, as of 4:00pm today, was reported to now be over 8000 acres in size and growing... Awaited moisture from a passing cold front has been slow in coming, but is still expected to arrive late tonight or tomorrow... For the latest information, click on, "Picnic Rock Fire", in menu bar on the left-hand side of this page...
April 1st, 2004 - "Fire Update: 5:30pm... The "Picnic Rock Fire" has now grown to over 3500 acres and is threatening homes in the "Bonner Peak Estates" and "Cherokee Hill" subdivisions... Evacuations are underway... A community meeting is scheduled for 7pm tonight at the Cache La Poudre Elementary School, 3511 Hwy. 287 in La Porte, which is being utilized as an emergency overnight shelter for evacuees...
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Smoke from the "Picnic Rock Fire", rises behind mountains scarred in our, "Bobcat Gulch Fire"... |
Critical Day for "Picnic Rock Fire"... Today could prove to be the most critical and challenging day yet for firefighters battling the "Picnic Rock" wildfire... Forecasters are predicting increasing winds, with the possibility of dry thunderstorms this afternoon... The fire, which started on Tuesday morning, has now grown to over 1000 acres in size... The burn area is reported to be up to two miles wide at points... Additional help, including air support, that arrived late yesterday should be on scene today... At this time 20 homes are on standby for evacuation and another 120 homes have been notified to be on alert...
SMN Pleased With First Month's Stats... An official review of our website statistics for the month of March was very encouraging... Storm Mountain Net had a total of 17,797 hits in it's first month of operation... This shows the amount of interest in, as well as a definite need for, a community website for our area... We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who helped to get us to this point, and to all the residents and other patrons who have supported our efforts... Below is a breakdown of our March statistics:
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March 31st, 2004 - Fire Now Over 800 Acres... As of 6:00am, the "Picnic Rock" wildfire in Poudre Canyon has now reportedly burned over 800 acres... Additional help is being called in today to help battle the blaze including two more helicopters, two air tankers, and four hand crews... Eight families have been forced to evacuate on East side of fire... Updates will be posted as they come in...
UPDATES: 4:00pm - The "Picnic Rock" wildfire is now said to be approaching 1000 acres in size and is currently five percent contained... Warm temperatures, low humidity, and winds are hampering firefighting efforts... With the coming cold front, winds are expected to increase and may make tomorrow a difficult day... A weather system arriving on Friday is expected to bring relief in the form of cooler temperatures, and the possibility of rain or snow...
1:00pm - The fire is now estimated to be in the 700 - 750 acre range... This was less than previously reported and is more accurate... Twelve families are on standby for evacuation, in addition to the eight evacuated earlier... County Hwy 29C, as well as Hwy 14 from Ted's Place to Stove Prairie Road, is closed... The most current, updated fire information can be found at:
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| View of "Picnic Rock" wildfire from Horsetooth Reservoir this morning |
March 30th, 2004 - Fire Burning In Poudre Canyon... A wildfire is currently burning near "Picnic Rock", across Hwy 14 near the base of Poudre Canyon... The fire reportedly started as a controlled burn and is now out of control... As of Noon, the fire was estimated to be approximately five acres in size and had been threatening structures in the area, but is now moving in away from them... A Forest Service helicopter was traveling to the scene to help battle the fire... This is yet another reminder of just how dangerous fire conditions in the area truly are...
UPDATE: As of 6:00pm this afternoon, the fire was estimated to have grown to 50 acres, and is now reportedly thirty percent contained... 35 firefighters plus helicopter support are on scene... The fire is also now being reported as starting from an illegal trash burn, and not a controlled burn as previously reported...
"Whooping Cough" reported in area... Larimer County Health officials are looking into several reported cases of "Whooping Cough" in the Estes Park area, where one case has been confirmed, and another twenty individuals are suspected to have the bacterial infection... It was reported yesterday that "Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center" has implemented a voluntary quarantine, with antibiotics being brought in to the school by local pharmacies... Boulder County is also reporting a similar outbreak...For more information on "Whooping Cough", including symptoms and clinical diagnosis info, please follow the link provided below:
March 29th, 2004 - Stolen Vehicle Recovered On Mountain... Larimer County Sheriff's Department today recovered a stolen vehicle from FDR128, at the pull-off by Combat Rock... The red Jeep Wrangler, had been parked in the pull-off for several days... The vehicle was recently reported stolen from Fort Collins... Police are asking residents who have any information, or might have seen anyone with or around this vehicle, to contact the Larimer County Sheriff at: 970-586-4000...
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Sheriff's Deputy Jason Adler looks over stolen vehicle...
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County Officials Verify Problem With Road Grade... Larimer County Health representative Ed Schemm, along with Larimer County Road Engineer Dale Miller, met today with a local resident to review a complaint that run-off from the road (FDR128) has been running onto their property... It was again unanimously agreed, by both the landowner and the County officials, that the road is improperly graded, resulting in road surfacing agents and other materials flowing directly onto the residents property... No comment was made as to what action is planned to resolve the issue...
Disclaimer: Stories and other content are submitted by independent sources and do not represent the opinions or views of Storm Mountain Net, nor it's employees... All stories are posted without bias to their content... While every attempt is made to be concise in our reporting, Storm Mountain Net is not responsible for any incorrect information...