Highway 24 fire


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Waldo Canyon Fire Animated Map

Jerri Marr reported that she had run out of fingers in counting how many communities the Waldo Canyon Fire affected. Here’s how it spread. On Tuesday, June 26th. a fire official said “The outlook for Cascade is poor”. “It’s not a good area with the canyon there,”

A shift in the winds shifted the fate of many communities that day. 

Tracking, mapping  the spread of the Waldo canyon Fire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My pictorial chronicle of The Waldo Canyon Fire begins at www.speakstrong.com/fire

Jerri Marr is My Kind of Superstar

Jerri Marr Briefs UTE Pass residence about flash floods



To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire click here

When Jerri Marr, forest supervisor for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests stepped into the UTE Pass resident’s briefing last night, there was an audible gasp in the room. Marr gained fans across the city and neighboring communities with her twice daily appearances on local television for the Waldo Canyon Fire Briefings. I’m in the list of her fans. 

Marr also gained respect. When the UTE Pass community realized she would be speaking, we broke into applause. I clapped too. Marr seemed a bit taken aback by, but warmed, by the response.

She told us:

  • We’re not here to scare you. We are here to prepare you.
Marr’s presence and these words underlined the seriousness of the flash flood threat in Cascade and Green Mountain Falls Colorado. Her words didn’t scare me, but they motivate me to take preventative action. They inspire respect for the power of water in nature, just as I recently learned to respect the power of fire during the Waldo Canyon Fire (which started three weeks ago today). I would pay attention and figure out how to be prepared and take all flash flood warnings seriously.
 
Why has Marr become a kind of a superstar? What makes her such an effective communicator? Why would I, as a communication specialist, prefer to read a book called “The Presentation Secrets of Jerri Marr” (if there was one) to reading “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs?”
 
Here are some thoughts.
  • Marr is down to earth yet knowledgeable. It’s like talking across a kitchen table with someone who knows their stuff. 
  • Marr is informative and factual while being caring. She did quick “shout-outs” to kids who had lost their homes before telling us what we wanted to know about the progress of the fire.
  • Marr is light-hearted without being flip. Even when she reports the heart-breaking and terrifying news that the fire spilled over into Colorado Springs, she portrays a sense of calm, competence and hope. 
  • Marr levels with you. She explains that the 65 mph winds that pushed the fire into the city of Colorado Springs were “not in the plan”. 

The main thing is, she’s a natural. You don’t get the impression that she is practicing great presentation skills. You know you’re listening to someone who knows, cares and shares.

I contrast that to Steve Jobs who could put on a great performance. He had practiced techniques. I can learn from him too, but in my opinion, Steve Jobs is no Jerri Marr.

 

Check her out below. She’s got a few kindas in there, but she’s so effective she gets a pass on all the communication quirks that would cost her a few points in a Toastmaster’s meeting. 

If you’re a Jerri Marr fan too, I invite you to comment below. 

A Cascadian View of the Pyramid Mountain, Waldo Canyon Fire

This has been updated in a slideshare format. You can review that here: or click next below to continue in this format.

e.Cascade Co wildfire damages burnout

The Pyramid Mountain and Waldo Canyon Wildfire touched the entire Colorado Springs community and beyond. Some lost everything. Others lost nothing, yet find themselves transformed. My husband and I ae n the second group. 

We all have stories. This section of my SpeakStrong Website is Bob and my story. It’s one of 1,153 Cascadian journies through the experience of the fire. It’s one of the hundreds of thousands of views across the county, state, country and beyond. May our journey deepen yours. 

Click on through. Post comments about your own experience of the Waldo Canyon Fire journey. I will be revising and updating this tale, but I post it now because there is too much to say. When words fail us, the pictures fill the gaps. 

Precarious Trees

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

precarious-trees

 They closed the forest. This is probably one reason why. Plus there are still hot spots where embers smoulder. You can see more of the tree below.

bob tree

Evidence of the Firefighter Efforts

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

fire path tree

And another.  All across this path and others, we find evidence of our firefighter’s hard work. For example, below you can see where they dug out an ember root of a tree that had burned. 

Ember removal

 

The Fire Line Held

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

bob contrast

I took Bob to see the path while it was still clear. The red scrub oak on the right isn’t burned or dried out – it’s covered with fire-retardant slurry. It still amazes me how they held the line here. 

Amazing Fire Break

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

trail contrast 600

This is where it gets really amazing. I found a path that wasn’t there before. It has been hidden since, but it was an awe-inspiring walk whne I discovered it. This little path is a clear line where the fire stopped. I was told this line helped the whole effort a lot. The cacacde Volunteer Fire Department held the line here. 

You can see how, on one side it burned and on the other, it didn’t. 

The Fire Line Foot Path

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

fire line pyramid mountain road

This dirt road once was a footpath. It became a dozer line for the fire. The fire stopped at the dozer line here. Just about 30 feet down from here, someone – I heard it was a neighbor – cut a path and the fire stopped before it reached this line. Lots of slurry here. The road is Pyramid Mountain Road. The neighbors didn’t care for it at all when it was put in a year or so ago. It did help the fire-fighting efforts.

Exploring Our Pyramid Mountain Stomping Grounds

To experience Meryl Runion Rose’s Cascadian pictorial chronicle of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire from the beginning, click here. To continue, click next below. 

next door

I eagerly ventured out to see what had become of my outdoor playground. We had been watching the Incident Commander, Rich Harvey,  talk about the fire line in Cascade. That line came out on the far side of our next-door neighbors’ home. We had later heard him say they had been able to contain the fire a bit further away. Which was really good news toour ears. 

This is where the original fire line came out. You can see they cleared trees on the burn side and piled them on the side they were defending. It’s pink with slurry. 

If you wonder why it’s so pink that’s fire-retardant slurry. There’s a lot of it in the area.