Blazes on suburbia's front porch

Jason Griffith lives in Shamballah, a forested area outside Denver where curious deer, bears, and a 10-foot boulder accent his 1940s-era home built of scrap lumber and homemade nails. But this week, Mr. Griffith found himself eating donated pepperoni pizza off a Styrofoam tray in a school gymnasium here, where the entertainment was cards and Parcheesi.

Griffith is one of thousands of people who have taken refuge from the headstrong fire consuming parts of the Colorado countryside, forcing one of the largest fire-related evacuations in modern US history.

The blaze, which authorities now say could take more than a month to fully control, is unusual for at least two reasons: the sheer intensity of the flames, which firefighters are comparing to the 1988 Yellowstone inferno, and its threat to a major metropolitan area.

While Denver itself appeared in no imminent danger Thursday, concern remains about suburbs on the southwest rim of the city. At least 5,000 people have already been evacuated in the plains and foothills this week, but at least 40,000 more were being admonished to go through their keepsakes in case they were asked to quickly move out.

Though the largest in Colorado history, the Hayman fire, so far, has not been as destructive as it could have been, given how close it has come to a major urban area. By early yesterday, it had destroyed 22 homes and burned more than 100,000 acres.

The devastating fire that swept through the Oakland, Calif., hills in 1991 charred 2,700 homes. Some 260 homes were destroyed in the Los Alamos, N.M., fire two years ago.

Nonetheless, the conflagration here, which authorities say was started by humans, remains an ominous threat because of the flint-dry conditions and fickle winds. For most of the week, firefighters could do little to even battle the blaze because of its intensity. At one point, it was advancing in spots by 2 m.p.h. as winds shot the flames up mountainsides like solar flares.

"These folks haven't had significant snow or rain in a long time. When you superimpose wind on top, it goes like gasoline," fire commander Kim Martin said this week.

In that sense, the Hayman fire may presage a summer of discontent for the American West. A prolonged drought, coupled with a growing migration of people into forested areas to live, has authorities bracing for a long season from New Mexico to Montana.

"We have people who enjoy the wildlands and want to move out of the urban areas and into less populated areas near the rangelands and forests," says Nancy Lull of the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. "They like the beauty and the quiet. At the same time there are risks associated with living in those areas."

As much as anywhere, the Denver area underscores how the inexorable march of suburbia into the woods can contribute to fire hazards.

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