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Recently Boulder County lost 1,000 acres to a grass fire.
Ten thousand homes were alerted of the fire and 500 homes evacuated.
Various fire departments did a phenomenal job; one they would not want
to repeat.
The odds that just one of the 40,000
projected trail users would be careless with a
cigarette or a match are excellent (yes some hikers, bikers and walkers
do smoke). Click on the first link below to study the common
causes of brush, grass and wildland fires: during 2006, cigarettes were
the cause of 263 such fires in Colorado. It is common almost daily
for winds to kick up in the area of the proposed trail without warning
to upwards of 20-30 mph and sometimes winds grow much stronger.
Fire fighters would have significant
access problems in this area such as roads blocked by the illegally
parked cars of trail visitors. Boulder's drinking and irrigation water supply canal is located in the middle
of fields and would provide a barrier to fire trucks causing delays in
movement to meet the fire.
A large fire in this area could destroy
a year's worth of farming efforts, could kill or injure livestock, could
destroy homes and devastate lives. The tremendous cost to Boulder County
taxpayers would be felt for years. It would certainly raise
insurance costs for the County, require additional fire and law
enforcement staff. We the taxpayers would pay the price.
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