Notified — Preventing Soco flames, pot sales near $500m and CO’s grim ranking for police shootings
Notified for July 15, 2016
There are 442 personnel fighting the Hayden Pass Fire burning west of Fremont County. About 14,000 acres have burned and responders to the fire 20 miles south of Salida are saying rugged terrain and hot, dry weather conditions are limiting what they can do to contain the blaze.
One summer cabin has been destroyed, it belonged to a Pueblo family.
The Hayden Pass Fire is top priority this week in Notified not just because there have been evacuations — those are ever changing and are current on the Fremont County Sheriff’s Facebook page — but for the other unexpected outcomes and questions it leaves other communities that might face a similar fire.
Also on Notified this week: Marijuana sales are on track to be record-breaking, how Colorado ranks in police shootings and Pueblo’s place in this past week’s state politics news.
Hayden Pass Fire FAQ
How did it start?
Lightning
When is the estimated containment date?
October 1
Wait, why?
The nature of how fires burn and the difficult terrain around the fire.
Are there Highway 50 Closures?
Not as of yet, according to law enforcement. Fremont County Rd 1A south from Hwy 50 to Hwy 69 is CLOSED in both directions for all vehicle and foot traffic, according to FCSO.
Hayden Pass Fire threatens endangered Colorado trout
Conservationists say they may have to act fast to save the endangered Hayden Creek Trout in the wake of the 14,000-acre wildfire burning west of Fremont County.
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
The Hayden Creek cutthroat is a subspecies of cutthroat trout, so named for the red stripe on its lower jaw. Researchers took interest in the Hayden Creek cutthroat upon discovering that it had unique DNA, not found in any other fish. Either the population was translocated from another ecosystem, or it had persisted in Colorado for thousands of years, biologists theorize.
Basically, once these fish are gone, that is it.
The CS Monitor continues …
If some cutthroat managed to escape the protective barrier, they could be rescued and placed in isolated hatcheries. It’s also possible that some fish survived the intense heat, but they would still be at risk from the pileup of ash and sediment.
How Southern Colorado is Preparing for Wildfires
By Theresa Wolf
Communities such as Beulah and Rye could face dangerous, difficult-to-contain fires given suitable weather factors, Pueblo County emergency officials say.
With windy, dry conditions and harsh terrain fueling the now 14,000-acre Hayden Pass Fire 20 miles southeast of Salida — which is 0 percent contained — communities surrounded by dense foliage are taking measures to prevent a wildfire.
“We do have the potential in Southern Colorado to have as big a fire as the Waldo Canyon, with the exception of the number of homes.” — Mark Mears, Bureau Chief for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services Bureau
“Right now, as a precaution, both Rye and Beulah have shut down burning in their districts so we don’t have any flames allowed in any open areas with the exception of San Isabel National Forest,” said Mark Mears, Bureau Chief for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services Bureau.
“No debris burning is allowed in Rye or Beulah.”
Fire restrictions are also in place in Park, Fremont, Custer, Las Animas, Huerfano and Costilla County.
Continue reading the story here:
Marijuana news
Colorado’s green keeps growing
Numbers released from the Colorado Department of Revenue show it may be a record-breaking year for marijuana in Colorado. Sales are just shy of a half-billion in sales. Billion. With a ‘B’.
In 2015 the year ended with $996 million in sales, but if numbers keep going as they are, then many are speculating the $1 billion mark might be met as early as November.
In May, recreational and medical marijuana shops raked in $98 million, making May the fourth highest month of sales since January 2014.
Also,
- On Friday, Citizens for the Healthy Pueblo submitted enough signatures to put a question on the ballot to ban recreational marijuana inside Pueblo’s city limits. This will be the second ballot question Pueblo area voters will decide as earlier, they were successful in putting a recreational ban to county voters. The two petitions would allow for medical marijuana in both the county and city.
What we’re reading
Colorado ranks 5th in nation for people killed by police
An interactive graphic put together by the Guardian shows which states have had the most people killed by police.
By shear numbers, Colorado is 5th with 19 people killed by police officers in 2016. That ranking has jumped from 8th in 2015. When calculated per capita Colorado is still in the top 10 states, sitting at 8th place in 2016 and 9th in 2015.
The number of officers killed on duty, while less, is also increasing.
The Officer Down Memorial Page counts three police officer deaths in Colorado so far in 2016, two of those shootings. In 2015, there were four police officers killed. Three hit by cars and one shooting, the slaying of UCCS officer Garrett Swasey during the Planned Parenthood shooting.
Book launch
Pueblo anthology highlights El Movimiento, authors say same problems face Chicanos
History Colorado’s El Movimiento exhibit that features the passion from the 1960s and 1970s Chicano social movement was customized for Pueblo’s El Pueblo History Center with added features from Pueblo’s rich Chicano history.
11 Chicano authors who witnessed the movement in Pueblo have written a book to accompany the exhibit. They tell the stories of the issues they experienced as students, educators, journalists and doctors.
Have those problems such as health care, education and government improved for Pueblo Chicanos in 2016? Many of the authors say not really. Theresa Wolf has the story on what the authors think has changed in four decades.
ICYMI
Political season kicked off in Pueblo with big talk and a workout
Colorado politics made Pueblo a spotlight this past weekend. Gail Schwartz helped kick off the Coordinated Campaign Office on Union Ave.
And the Colorado GOP Unity Tour ended in Pueblo. Some big Republican players banded together to support Senate candidate Darryl Glenn on some weightlifting steps made into a stage while one dude went full-force with his workout in the background. The story here:
