2012 Colorado wildfire coverage: Part 1

Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire

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Surgery may be best optionfor some with diabetes »4A

HEALTH-CARE LAW

Tax issue dominates court’s first dayByMichael Doyle andDavid LightmanMcClatchy Newspapers

washington» Supreme Court justices onMonday launched historic arguments overhealth care with hints that they won’t simplypunt the big issues to another day.While demonstrations and dueling news con-

ferences competed for attention outside, in thecourtroom the nine justices bore down on the

initial legal question of whether it’s too soon tosue against the Obama administration’s signa-ture health-care law.If questions are clues, the answer appears to be

that the lawsuits are ripe for action. This, in turn,means the oral arguments that continue todayandWednesday on the law’s constitutional valid-itywill ultimately lead to some crucial decisionslater this year.

COURT»9A

Today’s argumentCAN CONGRESS REQUIRE ALL AMERICANSTO HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE?The Obama administration says the Constitu-tion gives Congress the power to regulate com-merce in the public interest; and the only wayto guarantee that health insurance was avail-able was to require that everyone have healthinsurance. Lawyers for 26 states and the Nation-al Federation of Independent Business say Con-gress cannot require everyone to buy a product.

DEALING WITH TRANSIENTS

Denvertargetscampingin city

By Jeremy P. MeyerThe Denver Post

In an effort to deal with increasing numbers ofthe homeless onDenver’s streets, theCityCoun-cil is expected to consider an ordinance thatwould “ban unauthorized camping” throughoutthe city.The bill, which has been in the works for

months and is expected to be discussed in a coun-cil committee nextweek,would effectivelymakeillegal any temporary, unauthorized habitation onpublic and private property throughout Denver.That means people would be breaking the law

by putting up tents or shelters or bedding downin sleeping bags anywhere that camping is unau-thorized — meaning on the 16th Street Mall, onsidewalks, in alleys or by the South Platte River.Word of the proposed ordinance — which al-

ready has the support of Denver’s mayor andmany in the business community — has sparkedthe ire of advocates for the homeless,who call it amove to criminalize homelessness.The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless esti-

mates about 300 to 600people are “camping” likethis every night in Denver.The city long ago outlawed camping in public

parks but has no law against unauthorized camp-ing. There is a law that forbids people from “sit-ting or lying down” in the downtown businessdistrict between 7 a.m. and 9p.m. But after 9 p.m.,the 16th StreetMall has tended to become a gath-ering place for the homeless.Last summer, the mall swelled with about 200

homeless people every night — annoying mer-chants and tourists. Around the same time, theOccupy Denver protest movement began,launching an ongoing battle with police as pro-testers began camping inCivicCenter and sleep-ing on sidewalks around the park.

HOMELESS»7A

Surveys of metro Denver’s homelessIn most years, advocates for the homeless conduct asnapshot-in-time look at homelessness in metro Denveron a particular day, usually in late January. The figuresare inexact, but they help chart the course of action forthe year.Here are the findings from recent surveys:

Year Estimated homeless2011 11,3772009 11,0612007 10,6042006 9,0912005 10,2682004 8,668

Source: Metro Denver Homeless Initiative

The proposed law has thesupport ofMayorMichaelHancock, left, andmany inthe business community,but activists call it a moveto criminalizehomelessness.

Inside. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers calls the first day of arguments a “preliminary skirmish.” »9A

A large plume of smoke can be seen in the southern foothills of Denver near Roxborough and Conifer onMonday afternoon. A fire thatcovered about 15 acres at 5 p.m. had blown up to cover more than 3,000 acresMonday night. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Map area

Denver

The Denver PostSource: Wildlandfire.com

NC

470

2 miles

ASPEN PARK

CONIFER

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Conifer High School,evacuation shelter

285

285

Approximatearea of

Lower NorthFork Fire

County Road 88

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Fire rages in foothills

One death is investigated in the blaze that destroysseveral homes and forces the evacuation of 900more.By Joey Bunch and Ryan ParkerThe Denver Post

jefferson county» Fire crews fromacross the region tried to establish a perim-eter overnight on a 3,000-acre LowerNorth Fork Fire in Jefferson County.The blaze had burned several homes

southeast of Aspen Park, near Conifer, anddriven evacuees from more than 900homes in the first major fire this season.The sheriff’s office said lateMonday that itwas investigating one fatality within thefire zone.The fire was located between U.S. 285

and South Foxton Road; Pleasant ParkRoad, Oehlmann Park Road and south toDeer Creek Canyon.“We have lost some homes now. ... Could

be more than five, could be more than 10,could bemore than 20;we just don’t know,”said Jacki Kelley, a spokeswoman for theJefferson County Sheriff ’s Office.At9p.m., therewere 100 firefighters from

across the region trying toestablishaperim-eter on the fire, andmorepersonnelwere toarrive overnight to assist, Kelley said.“We are asking people to be ready to-

night to leave if need be, even in themiddleWIRE»8A

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FIRE:Blaze grew quickly in highwinds

Firefighter John Graves, with the North Fork Volunteer Fire Department, watches flames on a ridge near Reynolds Park on Foxton Road. He and his crewwere providing structure protection as well as keeping an eye on the fire. The fire, which is being called the Lower North Fork Fire, has burned thou-sands of acres, and officials said lateMonday that an unknown number of homes had been destroyed. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

of the night,” Kelley said late Monday.After crews battled wind gusts of

more than 70 mph in the foothillsMonday, calmerwinds and the chanceof a rain shower enter the forecast forthe area today.Several roads in the area remain

closed because of flames, smoke andfirefighting operations. Residents andothers are being encouraged to avoidthe area.Evacuees from the Aspen Park area

waited nervously at nearby ConiferHigh School, which was packed withthose who were displaced, andwatchedTVs and theirmobile devicesfor newsMonday night.“I don’t know how to feel. I feel

blank,” said Sandra Browning, withtears in her eyes.Browning,who lives off SilverRanch

Road, said she was able to save herbirds before she had to evacuate butfeared others would not be so lucky.“My neighbors weren’t home yet, so

I amworried about their animals,” shesaid.Claire Schmidt, who lives off North

Trail Circle,was upset that shewas un-able to retrieve her dog and cat fromher home but even more upset by afrantic message she received from aneighbor.“She sounded very upset and said

something about the fire on her prop-erty. I am trying desperately to getahold of them,” Schmidt said.The fire was first reported about

2 p.m. Monday. By 5 p.m., it was lessthan 15 acres. Authorities think it start-ed from embers of a controlled burndone by theColorado State Forest Ser-vice last week.Smoke from the blaze could be seen

from downtown Denver, which onlycomplicated a blowing-dust air-quali-ty advisory issued earlier in the day bythe Colorado Department of PublicHealth and Environment.The Jefferson County Health De-

partment also warned residents aboutthe possible ill effects of breathing thesmoke.The Federal Emergency Manage-

ment Agency said Monday night itwould approve funds for 75 percent ofthe state’s eligible firefighting costs.Monday night, the agency issued a

«FROM 1A

wildfire-smoke health advisory forsouthern Jefferson, Douglas, westernArapahoe andwestern Elbert countiesbecause of moderate to heavy driftingsmoke.“With the added particulates be-

cause of the smoke from the fires, wecould encourage people with heartand lungdisease andolder residents toavoid prolonged outside activitywhen

the visibility is less than 10miles,” saidspokesmanMark Salley.Morgan Frost of Elizabeth said she

came toConiferHigh School to get hermother, who lives off Kuehster Road.“She isOK,” Frost said. “She is 56 and

lives alone. She has 35 alpacas and fivedogs. All saved.”Barbara Webster, a mental-health

expert with the American Red Cross,

said she had talked to evacuees whowere having tremendous difficultywith the situation.“Some are doing OK and checking

on neighbors, but I have spoken to afew who are incredibly upset andscared,”Webster said.Earlier Monday, crews in Jefferson

County fought smaller grass fires nearSawmill Gulch and another off U.S. 40

near Lookout Mountain.Dry, gusty weather pushed small

wildfires across parts of Colorado, in-cluding several in the foothills in Jef-ferson County, as well as fires in Sum-mit, Larimer, Weld and Logan coun-ties.

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174or [email protected]

When you hear this from a patient it gets your attention.Typically, we get the worst of the worst pain patients and whenwe heard this recently from one of our patients, our attentionwas particularly peaked.Wilmer came to see us from Nebraska,in a wheelchair. One toe amputated already and soon to lose hisentire foot, with bright red skin.You could cut his foot with glassand he wouldn’t feel it- he was coming to the end of his rope.The nerves in his legs and feet were so severely damaged thathe not only could not feel his feet but he had HORRIBLE PAINas well, treated with drugs.

This type of patient can change your lifeand practice forever.

Most patients can’t sleep well at night, some feel like their legsare being chewed on by little bugs. As the nerves are damagedpatients feel prickling sensations, pain and burning, pressure orswollen feet, some even get shooting pain like lightning in theirtoes and legs up to their knees. Constant dull sensations or lackof feeling can cause balance problems where you don’t feel asstable as you used to. Older patients with nerve damage areworried they might fall and injure themselves, especially withover 30,000 deaths/year from these types of falls.

Patients like this, everyday, tell me they can’t go on living withthis constant pain that so drastically affects their sleep, theirwork, and their lifestyle. And since most traditional doctors arenot aware of the new research that scientists have performed,they typically tell their patients that there is no help other thandrugs to make them comfortable while the pain and numbnessgets worse.

That May Have Been Right Even 10 Years Ago,but Everything Is Different Now!

Our health center was fortunate enough to be exposed tothis new non-invasive, non-surgical, and NON-DRUG basedapproach that was specifically developed to treat severe painand numbness in the foot and leg caused by neuropathy (nervedamage).

We learned about this multi-therapy strategy from a neurologistthat was using the latest in medical science to treat patients. Thetreatment was working wonders with this type of chronic painand loss of sensation that is caused by nerve damage. In fact 9out of 10 patients reported being satisfied with their care!

Using state of the art technology and gentle nerve stimulationtreatment, this program has the ability to immediately increasecirculation to an area- absolutely necessary to treat neuropathy.And not just a little, but over 400%! It could reduce pain in aslittle as one treatment, and with over 150 offices nationwideusing this specific program, hundreds and hundreds of patientswere getting better every single month.

Based on the research and what I was hearing from fellowdoctors, we started using this treatment in our office immediately,and immediately we started seeing changes in our patients.They told me they felt better, had more sensation, less pain,better balance, fewer drugs and medications, less prickly andpressure sensations, better sleep and more walking.

This treatment, which is only offered in the Denver area atour clinic, continues to eliminate pain of the worst kind. And itworks FAST! After just a few minutes of treatment, patients withextreme and chronic pain of the worst kind, including neuropathyin the hands and the feet, are able to reduce their pain andreduce their medications.

Using the latest and most researched technologies, we utilizePhotoBioModulation (thousands of scientific studies doneon this conservative therapy) and relaxing re-integration andstimulation treatments of the peripheral nerves to increase theirfunction quickly. If you help heal and repair the nerve damage,you start getting your life back.

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“Dr. Josh Johnston taught me more about my body than anydoctor I’ve ever met in my life.And I felt like he actually trulycares.”— Jonathan W.

“The nerve pain in my feet was so severe by the end of August;I thought my life was completely ruined, forever. I tried strongpain medication, steroid spinal injections, physical therapy,acupuncture,massage - everything I could think of and nothing- nothing helped at all. I wanted to die. At 36 years old, I felt mylife was completely ruined.Within the first week of laser lighttherapy the extreme sensitivity in my feet started to fade.I could put my feet in my sheets under the covers which priornothing could even touch my feet without sending me to themoon in pain.Then I started noticing the nerve pain completelychanging.The Dr’s and staff at Vitality Health were absolutelywonderful, compassionate and knowledgeable.They saved mefrom living a life of extreme pain.How do you rate that? Thereare no words to express my deep gratitude for all the folks atVitality Health!” — Amy C.

Once you’ve been evaluated fully and completely with ourAdvanced NeuroFoot Analysis Test for nerve damage, youwill know if you’re a candidate for this painless and effectiveNeuropathy Relief Program.This treatment has a beginning and an end, unlike all thedrugs that you may have to take the rest of your life. Call ouroffice right away to qualify for one of the 20 Appointments.

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ANSCHUTZ COLLECTION

AdmiredWesternart to opento publicThe works to be kept ina historic building mayboost the city’s prestige.By Ray Mark RinaldiThe Denver Post

The Anschutz Collection, one of thecountry’s most respected collectionsof Western paintings, will open itsdoors to the public full time this year,adding another attraction to Denver’sgrowing portfolio of small, quirky artmuseums.

Officially known as the AmericanMuseum of Western Art, the 26,000-square-foot nonprofit is housed in thehistoric Navarre Building on TremontStreet downtown. For the past 15months, it has allowed a small numberof visitors, by appointment only, onTuesdays and Thursdays.

But by May, the museum plans toopen on a regular schedule with ad-mission fees similar to other art muse-ums in the area. There will be about400 paintings on display, packed intothree floors of salons.

The Anschutz Collection is builtaround the biggest names in Westernart, starting in the early part of the 19thcentury, and includes works by suchstandard-bearers as Frederic Reming-ton, George Catlin and Charles MarionRussell.

The collection takes a broad view ofthe genre, featuring works from Hud-son River School artists such as Thom-as Moran, who ventured west withtheir easels early on.

It is particularly strong in its hold-

ART»13A

Top: A slurry bomber drops retardant Tuesday on the Lower North Fork fire in Jefferson County. RJ Sangosti,The Denver Post

Above: Fire crews walk toward a burned-out home. Officials said it can take only minutes for the fire, withtemperatures above 1,000 degrees, to flatten a home. Joe Amon, The Denver Post

VICTIMSElderly couple identified.One woman missing.

EVACUATIONS2,500 homes affected;another 6,500 on alert.

TODAYMore of same weather;reinforcements on way.

EMPLOYMENT MARKET

As jobs startto come back,searchers’ skillsneedwork

By Jordan Steffen, Kirk Mitchelland Joey Bunch The Denver Post

jefferson county» An early-spring fire that burned through 4,500acres and 23 homes and killed an el-derly couple continued to rage almostat will across parched foothills lateTuesday, prompting officials to alertthousands more residents to prepareto join neighbors already forced toevacuate their homes.

Officials have identified the two vic-tims of the Lower North Fork fire asSam Lamar Lucas, 77, and his wife, Lin-da M. Lucas, 76. Authorities were alsosearching late Tuesday for a womanwho is unaccounted for in the fire area.

Sam Lucas was found outside, andhis wife inside, a home deep withinthe burned area. Fire officials saidthey didn’t know whether the couplehad tried to escape. Their deaths re-main under investigation.

Despite the efforts of about 200 fire-fighters and the benefit of lighterwinds, authorities failed to gain much,if any, control over the fast-movingfire Tuesday, said Jacki Kelley, a Jeffer-son County Sheriff ’s Office spokes-woman. Today, the firefighting teamwill grow to 400, with crews comingin from across the West.

“We’re finally getting the resourceswe needed yesterday,” Kelley said.“We’re going to be fighting this fire 24hours a day until we get containment.”

Whipped by strong winds andfueled by unusually dry conditions,the fire roared across thousands offoothill acres southwest of Denversouth and east of U.S. 285 startingMonday.

FIRE»11A

Fury uncontained

By Aldo Svaldi The Denver Post

As Colorado’s job market begins showing signs of life, some re-cruiters complain that discouraged job hunters have lost the edgerequired to impress them.

“People need to be more prepared, but they are not,” said SamSargent, president of Human Resource Asset Management Sys-tems Ltd. in Monument.

Among the complaints from recruiters are employees who ha-ven’t thoroughly researched the companies they’re interviewingwith or who simply lack confidence.

“Even though I’m seeing a huge uptick in the number of jobs

JOBS»7A

Ernest Gurule is frustrated by inter-views that go well but yield no joboffer. AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post

NATION& WORLDSHARP SPLITSON HEALTH LAWIn a historic clash thatforeshadows a close election-year decision, justicesrevealed sharp splits aboutwhether Congress went toofar in mandating that U.S.residents buy healthinsurance or pay a penalty.»12A

Q and A. Key parts of thehealth-care-reform argument.»12A

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Jefferson County officials said they believe thefire began as a controlled burn set a week ago bythe Colorado State Forest Service on land belong-ing to the Denver Water Board, and that it sprangback to life Monday. However, Joe Duna, deputystate forester, told Channel 4 News that the ser-vice is in no way is taking responsibility for hav-ing anything to do with the current fire.

“I think it’s fairly unusual for this to happen solong after the fact, and so we’ll wait for the sher-iff ’s report,” he told the television station.

Tuesday afternoon, authorities alerted residentsof an additional 6,500 homes that they should pre-pare to evacuate, after a spot fire flared 1 milenorthwest of Waterton Canyon. About 2,500 homeshad already been evacuated by that time.

The most recent areas under pre-evacuationnotice include: Dear Creek Mesa, Deer CreekCanyon Park, Homewood Park, Hilldale Pines,South Murphy Gulch Road, Watson Gulch Road,an area southeast of South Turkey Creek Road,White Deer Valley and Jennings Road.

Tuesday afternoon, Jefferson County officialsled reporters deep into the backcountry to scenesof Monday’s devastation.

Tree stumps and the charred foundations ofwhat were once homes still smoldered, markedby blackened concrete and molten metal. Flamesstill shot out of a gas line in one of the destroyedhomes. The house numbers on a post near thedriveway were melted into the wood.

Dan Hatlestad, public-information officer forthe Jefferson County Incident ManagementTeam, said it took only minutes for the fire, withtemperatures above 1,000 degrees, to flatten thehomes.

Twenty residents had to be pulled out of thearea at the last minute by fire crews and emer-gency vehicles. The smoke was so thick that fire-fighters had to stick their heads out the windowsas they drove in order to see the roadway.

One family became so disoriented that theirtwo vehicles drove off the road, and fire crewshad to save them and their pets, Hatlestad said.

David and Jill Owens, whose home was in theheart of the burn area, watched Monday as thesmoke plume grew just miles from their drive-way. The Owenses, their two young children,three dogs and two cats last saw their home at 5p.m. Monday.

“It was clear we needed to go,” David Owenssaid.

When they awoke Tuesday, they saw theirhome on a local TV newscast. It was, David Ow-ens said, ashes. The only recognizable parts wereboulders and concrete from the back patio.

About 25 evacuees spent Monday night at ashelter set up at Conifer High School. Somechose to spend the night in their vehicles in theschool’s parking lot to be with their pets.

Julie and Tim White spent an anxious nightwith their five dogs and three cats. The couplejust finished building their home last May andwere forced out Monday evening. Animal-rescueworkers got into their home and brought theirpets to them as they watched smoke billow fromafar.

“We’re waking up to the fact that we might loseour house,” Tim White said Tuesday. “We’re notreally sure what we’ll do next.”

By Tuesday afternoon, amid fear that the ranksof evacuees had outgrown Conifer High, theevacuation center was moved to West JeffersonMiddle School.

The Lower North Fork blaze may be the first indecades to claim the lives of nonfirefighters.Steve Segin, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Ser-vice, said that since he began working in 1999, hecan’t recall a single civilian killed in a wildfire inColorado, although numerous firefighters havelost their lives. A search of Denver Post recordsgoing back to 1982 found no civilian deaths.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” Segin said. “We’vebeen fairly lucky.”

The terrain, dry conditions, abundant fuels forfire and winds on Monday were reminiscent ofthe 2002 Hayman fire, which burned 138,000acres.

“It’s a combination of problems for us,” saidKelley, the Sheriff ’s Office spokeswoman.

The Federal Emergency Management Agencyhas authorized the use of federal funds to helpwith firefighting costs for the Lower North Forkfire in Jefferson County, according to Jerry DeFe-lice, FEMA spokesman.

FEMA funding pays 75 percent of the state’s eli-gible firefighting costs. The money does not cov-er damage to homeowners or businesses anddoes not cover other infrastructure damagecaused by the fire.

Staff writers MonteWhaley, Kieran Nicholson andKaren Augé contributed to this report.

«FROM 1A

“We’re waking up to the fact thatwe might lose our house. We’re not

really sure what we’ll do next.”Tim White, who was forced out of his home Monday evening

View. Photo galleries of the fire and thedevastation it has left behind.Watch. A video of tips on what to do if youranimal is still within the evacuation area.Watch. The rescue of 12 horses.»denverpost.com

Map area

Denver

The Denver PostSource: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

N

C470

2 miles

ASPEN PARK

CONIFER

JEFFERSON COUNTY

West Jefferson Middle Schoolevacuation shelter;replaced shelter atConifer High School

285

County Road 88

Evacuation area

The early-spring fire, which has burned through 4,500 acres, has blackened trees and leveled homes. Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post

“On to greener pastures”At Conifer High School, Mark Sustek packed

his lawn chair and cooler into the back of hisoverflowing Ford F-150 pickup Tuesday eve-ning. “On to greener pastures,” he joked. “youcan’t go home but you can’t stay here. I justhope I eventually have a home to go back to.”

Hayman survivor returns favorTerry Neal, whose home is not in the fire

zone, showed up at the The West Jefferson Mid-dle School shelter to offer help. “During Hay-man (fire), you would not believe the peoplewho helped me and my family. I said then I’d al-ways help anybody I can. I owe it. If you live uphere you either owe it or you will, either yourplace has burned or it will someday.”

Near-zero visibilityVisibility in some areas around the fire was

so bad Monday that some fleeing residentsdrove their vehicles off dirt roads and intoditches because they couldn’t see, said ClaireSchmidt, who lives off North Tail Circle andspent Monday night in the shelter. “It’s like insome places one home is there, and the next isgone.”

Power’s out, and they’re out tooCris Nowakoski and his wife put on head-

lamps and packed a few things from their Pleas-ant Park area home, after the power went outabout 7 p.m. Monday. “It’s a blur,” he said. “Iwoke up this morning thinking it was a dream.”

Safe but on edgeMaggie Whalen and her husband, Pete, fled

their home off Gold Spur around 7:30 p.m.Monday with their two dogs, Sirius Black, 12,and Molly, 13. Their two horses were rescued byemergency workers. “The winds have just beencrazy. But we got what we needed out of thereand that’s what matters.” Sirius Black was a ner-vous wreck after the evacuation so Whalen wasscrambling Tuesday to fill a veterinarian’s pre-scription for Xanax. “Maybe I’ll take some too.”

Grabbing hold of important stuffChristopher Prado was ordered to evacuate

his Pleasant Park home about 8:15 p.m. Hegrabbed a guitar, some other musical instru-ments and a birth certificate. It took him aboutan hour to get ready to leave. He took comfortin knowing that there was still some snow onthe ground around his home. “There’s a lot ofthings that could be lost today. But at the sametime, you have to grab hold of the importantstuff.”

“We all come together”Lisa Paris has lived in the King Valley com-

munity long enough to have survived the Hay-man fire, the Snaking Gulch fire and a few otherless-legendary blazes. Back then, she didn’tknow many people, so she paid $1,500 a week toboard the family dogs. Tuesday, she put out anoffer to babysit her neighbors’ kids or dogs, oreven provide a couch or spare bed for anyonewho needs one this week. “This is the kind ofcommunity where nobody ever makes a peep’til you need it, then we all come together.”

Compiled by Joey Bunch, Monte Whaley,Karen Augé, Jordan Steffen

LIABILITY FOR BLAZE’S START

State Forest Service blamed, but insurersunlikely to get state to cover fire lossesBy Aldo SvaldiThe Denver Post

The Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office placedblame for the Lower North Fork wildfire on acontrolled burn last week by the Colorado StateForest Service, saying Monday’s high winds re-ignited it.

That claim, if proven, could open up the stateto litigation from victims of the fire and theirinsurance providers, who have a legal duty togo after responsible parties for compensation.

“When insurance companies pay out claims,they determine fault,” said Carole Walker, exec-utive director of the Rocky Mountain InsuranceInformation Association. “They will then goback and recoup that money. That happens allthe time.”

For example, if an arsonist torches a home,the insurer would pay the claim and then pur-

sue the arsonist for damages, a process calledsubrogation.

Any money collected would go to cover a vic-tim’s deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.If enough is left over, it would also cover the in-surance payouts.

But what if the government is behind a fire, asmight be the case in the Lower North Fork?

Insurers in theory could still pursue damag-es, but they would have a hard time overturningprotections built into state law, said Jan Spies,an attorney specializing in insurance issueswith Spies, Powers & Robinson in Denver.

The Colorado Governmental Immunity Actlimits the state’s liability to $150,000 per indi-vidual and $600,000 per incident, said MarkieDavis, the state’s risk manager.

Immunity protects governments from gettingsaddled with huge claims that could preventthem from providing services, not to mention

taxpayers who would have to foot the bill.There are exceptions, and governments canalso waive their immunity, although that is rare.

After the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos,N.M., destroyed 400 homes in 2000, Congressdid step up and agree to pay damages becauseof problems in how the controlled burn wasconducted, Walker said.

“By all indications, the (North Fork) burn wasdone by the tight standards you do a controlburn under,” said Mike Hooker, a spokesmanfor Colorado State University, which workswith the Colorado State Forest Service.

He and a spokesman with the attorney gener-al’s office said it is much too early to assignblame or point fingers.

Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410,[email protected] ortwitter.com/aldosvaldi

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NORTHGLENN NATIVE

StarringArmy rolefor newestgeneral

Brig. Gen. LauraRichardson willbe the Army’sfirst femaledeputy divisioncommander.

ByKevin Simpson The Denver Post

She grew up on a straight and nar-row path, the eldest of four siblingsreared on competition, mental disci-pline and fitness in a Northglenn hometeeming with athletic facilities, moti-vational slogans and high expecta-tions.

Groomed by success, she gravitatedto the military.

And still, when the Army promoted48-year-old Laura Richardson to briga-dier general earlier this month, makingher one of only 29 women among 390general officers, she professed sur-prise.

“I know a lot of people say you madeit through the eye of a needle if youmake it through the general-officerranks,” Richardson said. “I never as-pired to be a certain rank at all in mymilitary career.”

Richardson not only has risen to rareheights in rank, but she also soon willbecome the Army’s first female deputydivision commander when she takesover for her husband, Brig. Gen. JimRichardson, with the 1st Cavalry Divi-sion at Fort Hood, Texas — one of thebranch’s most-powerful and storiedunits.

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You won, so how do you handle cash?By John Seewer The Associated Press

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People in fire’s waysay no warning came

A resident examines what’s leftWednesday of an American flag stillattached to the pole on his propertyon Kuehster Road. The JeffersonCounty Sheriff's Office allowed someresidents to return to their burnedhomes in the area of the Lower NorthFork fire.Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

L0wer North Fork fire. A family flees the blaze and describes their escape. »denverpost.com/video

ByKirk Mitchell, Carlos Illescas and Jordan Steffen The Denver Post

HEALTH-CARE OVERHAUL

Justices seemopen to pullinglaw’s linchpinBy N.C. Aizenmanand Robert BarnesThe Washington Post

washington» The Supreme Courtclosed an extraordinary three-day re-view of President Barack Obama’shealth-care law Wednesday with itsconservative majority signaling that itmay be on the brink of a major redefini-tion of the federal government’s power.

Justices on the right of the deeply di-vided court appear at least open to de-claring the heart of the overhaul un-constitutional, voiding the rest of the2,700-page law and even scrapping theunderpinnings of Medicaid, a federal-state partnership that has existed fornearly 50 years.

Much can happen between now andthe expected ruling this summer, and afar more moderate tone may emerge.Broad statements come more easily inthe court’s intense oral argumentsthan in majority opinions.

But Solicitor General Donald VerrilliCOURT»2A

Impact. Obama supporters bracefor a major blow to his legacy. »2A JACKPOT»7A

MOYER SEEKSA WIN FORTHE AGES

Families driven from their homes by a fast-mov-ing wall of fire Monday evening said theystayed longer than was safe because authori-ties told them that the smoke they were smell-ing was from a controlled burn that was being

monitored.“I thought we weren’t going to make it,” said Kim Ol-

son, who barely escaped the fire that killed her neigh-bors, Samuel, 77, and Linda “Moaneti” Lucas, 76. “Ithought we were going to die right there.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Colorado State Forest Ser-

vice deputy forester Joe Duda said the Lower NorthFork fire that has scorched more than 4,100 acres ofland, burned 27 homes and killed the Lucases sparkedfrom a controlled burn on Denver Water Board landlast week.

“This is heartbreaking, and we are sorry,” Duda said.“Despite the best efforts of the Colorado State ForestService to prevent this very kind of tragic wildfire, wenow join Colorado in hoping for the safety of thosefighting a large fire and mourning the loss of life and

FIRE»11A

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ODOR A RED FLAG FOR THE VULNERABLE

Campfire smell, allergy season“doublewhammy” to the lungsDoctors are fieldingmore calls frompatients grapplingwith the smoke.

Smoke rises Wednesday from the burn area along Kuehster Road in Conifer, where the LowerNorth Fork fire charred many homes. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

By Michael BoothThe Denver Post

One doctor called it a “per-fect storm.” Another called it a“double whammy.” But the mes-sage was the same: Wildfiresmoke and an early spike to al-lergy season mean trouble forsome lung patients.

St. Anthony Hospital, nearthe Jefferson County foothills,and Denver’s National JewishHealth, a renowned respiratorycenter, are fielding more callsand visits from patients breath-ing hard in the haze.

The Lower North Fork firehas cast a campfire-smell pallover the entire metro area, anddoctors say that pervasive odoris a sign of trouble for the vul-nerable.

That’s not to say lung pa-tients, children or the elderlyshould panic, medical expertsadded. Distant smoke rarelycauses major problems by it-self, but some asthma or chron-ic pulmonary patients will wantto increase or refill medicationsand look for extra oxygen.

The extremely vulnerableshould stay indoors, but Na-tional Jewish pediatric chair-man Erwin Gelfand does notrecommend all asthmatic chil-dren avoid sports or other exer-cise.

“With the allergen load outthere, it’s clear it could be theallergens triggering” discom-fort, Gelfand said. “Our adviceto people is that if it’s really badand bothering them, it’s good tostay indoors; but kids want to

play sports, and you don’t wantto curtail that too much.”

Some visitors to St. Antho-ny’s emergency departmenthave needed extra albuterol —a drug that relaxes and opensair passages — or oxygen, saidED medical director Christo-pher Ott. If that campfire smellis in the air, there are particlesthat can be troublesome to afew, Ott said.

It was worse during the noto-rious 2002 Hayman fire, he add-

ed, with visible pieces of ashfalling across metro Denver.

A rush-hour runner alongSpeer Boulevard would inhalemore exhaust particles than achild playing soccer in Littletonamid Lower North Fork fire res-idue, he added.

Health officials emphasizedlung patients should first care-fully follow their treatmentplans and then contact authori-ties if something doesn’t feelright.

“A good message to deliver toresidents (especially those withchronic respiratory conditions)is to pay attention to your bodyand how you are feeling,” saidChristopher Dann of the statehealth department’s Air Pollu-tion Control Division. Air-qual-ity and smoke forecasts are atcolorado.gov/airquality.

“At best, our monitors canconfirm what your body al-ready knows,” Dann said.

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8A» NEWS thursday, march 29, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6

DANGER OF FIRE PLUMES

Extremely hot, quickblaze poses extra risksAn emergency official says the conditionswere ripe for flames to suddenly explode.

By Jordan SteffenThe Denver Post

conifer» A plume of fireand smoke — reaching up to1,000 degrees and moving asfast as 40 mph — took abouttwo hours to burn about 4square miles in Jefferson Coun-ty on Monday afternoon.

The fast-moving blaze torethrough back roads near Coni-fer and Aspen Park, leaving sev-eral residents trapped. By Tues-day morning, two people weredead and a third was missing.

Winds of up to 80 mph, tem-peratures in the 70s andparched terrain were the per-fect combination for the fireplume that burned thousands ofacres and sent smoke billowingas high as 10,000 feet in the air,said Dan Hatlestad, spokesmanfor the Jefferson County Inci-dent Management Team.

The fire most likely sparkedabout 2 p.m. Monday from em-bers left behind after a con-trolled burn last week. Firecrews had been working hotspots related to that fire begin-ning Thursday. Strong windsMonday afternoon pushed thefire east.

Later that afternoon, temper-atures increased and windgusts hit 80 mph. The windssent intense radiant heat infront if the flames, which “pre-cooked” the fuels, making themmore susceptible to the ap-proaching blaze.

“The flame sheets were 30 to40 feet wide across KuehsterRoad,” Hatlestad said.

Temperatures got so hot thatthe fire started sucking up oxy-gen and debris and sending itinto the plume. The debris andgases continued to burn in theplume above the blaze.

Plumes can be so intense theycreate their own weather sys-tem, Hatlestad explained.

Plumes are too dangerous tofight. They move erraticallyand can easily close in on firecrews, Hatlestad said.

“Unfortunately, several resi-dents experienced this Mon-day,” said Hatlestad, who wasone of the firefighters helpingget residents to safety.

The plume could travel sev-eral miles and reach a residentin minutes. “You would see grayclouds, then black and thenflames,” Hatlestad said.

The fire behavior is similar tothat seen in the Hayman andFourMile Canyon fires of re-cent years.

“The fire can creep along andseem like nothing more than acandle and then suddenly ex-plode,” Hatlestad said.

Jordan Steffen:[email protected],303-954-1794 ortwitter.com/jsteffendp

A burned-out horse trailer is all that is left at one house along Kuehster Road. One official saidflame sheets along the road were 30 to 40 feet wide. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Containment of blazeestimated at 15 percentAbout 500 firefighters from sever-al states turned their focusWednesday to building contain-ment lines around the wildfire.Up to now, the fire’s erratic pat-tern has forced firefighters tofocus on protecting homes, notstopping the burn. Crews hadachieved 15 percent containmenton the fire by late afternoon. Theestimate of the affected area wasupdated to 4,140 acres. To con-tain the fire, officials estimatethey will need a fire line that is8½ miles long. Because of weath-er conditions, only minimalgrowth along the perimeter isexpected today.

27 sites damaged orrazed; 267 lack powerA total of 27 structures have beendamaged or destroyed. The own-ers of all but one structure havebeen notified, officials said. Inter-mountain Rural Electric Associa-tion said 267 structures are with-out power and estimate that itmust rebuild 2 to 3 miles of pow-er line.

Over 53,000 gallonsof retardant droppedTankers dropped more than 4,100gallons of retardant on Wednes-day and Air National Guard heli-copters dropped 49,000 gallonsof water. The two heavy air tank-ers are being transferred to firesin South Dakota,but a single-en-gine tanker remains here.

Crew digs in rubble ofmissing woman’s homeA search team using dogs contin-ued to look for a missing woman.Her home was among those de-stroyed. About 60 acres havebeen searched, and crews weredigging in the rubble of the wom-an’s home Wednesday evening.

Evacuees briefed, toldreturn may take a weekOfficials briefed about 90 peopleWednesday evening at the evacu-ation center, and residents said itwas the most informative sessionyet. But they were told it couldbe a week until they could getback into their homes and thatupset some.“We’re tired of it,” said evacueeAmanda Walker.As for the news that governor hashalted all prescribed burns, Walk-er said, “too little, too late.”

Gov. Hickenlooperto tour fire area todayColorado Gov. John Hickenlooperlanded at Denver InternationalAirport late Wednesday and saidhe would visit the fire crews inJefferson County today. The gov-ernor was in Mexico on a trademission, which ended Wednes-day. He canceled plans to stay inMexico for a brief family vaca-tion. Hickenlooper, who while inMexico ordered a halt to con-trolled burns, noted the state’shot, dry condition and urged thepublic to “pray for rain.”

Donations soughtto help fire victimsThe Elk Creek Fire Protection Dis-trict is joining with the MountainResource Center to collect cashdonations to assist fire victims.Please send donation checks to:Mountain Resource CenterP.O. Box 425Conifer, CO 80433

Write, “Lower North Fork FireFund” on the memo line of yourcheck. For additional informa-tion, contact chaplain Beth Gra-ham of the Elk Creek Fire Protec-tion District at 303-816-9385, ext.15, or the Mountain ResourceCenter at 303-838-7552.

Lower North Fork fire

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66 the denver post B denverpost.com B thursday, march 29, 2012 NEWS «9A

Members of a fire crew put out hotspots Wednesday along Kuehster Road, one of the areas hit the hardest by the Lower NorthFork fire near Conifer. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

PRESCRIBED BURNS

Experts defend methodControlled fires widely used, but Hickenlooper issues ban amid reviewBy Bruce FinleyThe Denver Post

The catastrophic LowerNorth Fork fire began as a pre-scribed burn that re-ignited indry wind and jumped its perim-eter, expanding across morethan 6 square miles, destroying27 buildings and killing at leasttwo people.

State forest officials apolo-gized Wednesday, and Gov.John Hickenlooper issued a banon all prescribed burns on stateland until a formal review isdone.

But fire authorities insist pre-scribed fires are required toprevent even worse catastro-phes.

The difficulty of fighting su-per-large fires, such as the 215-square-mile Hayman fire in2002, and tight federal budgetsfor firefighting as more homesare built in forests stressed bydrought and pine beetle infesta-tions have combined to pushland managers toward usingprescribed fires to manage therisk.

“Doing a lot of small onesgets us closer to avoiding thebig one,” said Rich Homann,fire division supervisor for theColorado State Forest Service.“It needs to be acknowledgedthat using fire as a managementtool does carry some risk.”

State air-quality officials haveissued 225 permits for pre-scribed fires so far this year.Last year, they granted 402 per-mits, up 25 percent from 321 in2007, state data show. Not all ofthose permits are used.

Over the past few months,hundreds of burns were done inthe forests along Colorado’sFront Range.

Fire managers in BoulderCounty recently completed 600burns of cut-down trees. RockyMountain National Park crewsburned 6,000 piles of beetle-killed trees cut from 700 acres.

Over four years, the federalpark crews have treated 1,000acres using prescribed fires,RMNP fire management officerMike Lewelling said. “Most ofour prescribed fire projects arenear communities. Prescribedfires are a proven way to reducewildfire risk.”

Hickenlooper promised athorough review of conditionsacross the state, including pro-tocols used during prescribedburns.

The State Forest Service usesfire to revitalize 15,000 acres ofwatershed owned by DenverWater.

“All decisions related to for-est management and treatmenton Denver Water property aremade by the Colorado StateForest Service,” utility spokes-woman Stacy Chesney said.“Our thoughts are with the fam-

ilies that have been evacuatedand those who are workinghard to manage the fire.”

Forest managers increasinglyrely on prescribed fire in partbecause federal funding for firesuppression has stayed steady— limiting the ability of theForest Service and other agen-cies to afford enough air tank-ers. Tree-thinning to protectcommunities has emerged asanother — also expensive —option.

Prescribed fire is an impor-tant tool, said Skip Smith, For-est and Rangeland StewardshipDepartment head at ColoradoState University, which over-sees the State Forest Service.

“Either wait for the big one,or burn fuels under moderateconditions where the fire be-havior can be controlled,”Smith said. “If we don’t do haz-ardous fuel mitigation, then,when a wildfire does burn, itburns with more intensity andis more difficult to suppress.”

Prescribed fires rarely es-cape. But this month’s condi-tions proved tricky. Land man-agers say that, a few weeks ago,they saw ideal conditions forprescribed burns — snow leav-ing soil moist and minimal foli-age in trees. Warmer tempera-tures and high wind over thepast two weeks rapidly changedthat.

One day last week, 17 privateagricultural burns in BoulderCounty escaped their permit-ted boundaries, said Jay Stal-nacker, the county’s fire man-agement officer, who serves onthe Colorado Prescribed FireCouncil.

Colorado’s Front Range “isbecoming the hotbed for fire,”he said. “The wildland-urbaninterface. The homes beingbuilt in the foothills. Theamount of beetle kill. The res-toration work that needs to oc-cur. We are set up for disaster.”

Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700twitter.com/finleybruce [email protected]

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10A» NEWS thursday, march 29, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6

FIRE:Dispatcher said not toworry

Above: Very little is left of aburned swing set at one homealong Kuehster Road.Left: ResidentMary Ann Ellis,left, gets a hug fromDeniseGustafson. The two attended anews conferenceWednesdayat the evacuation center, hop-ing for some answers fromofficials. They said they didnot lose their homes, but theyhave not been allowed back tosee the extent of the damage.Photos by Helen H. Richardson,The Denver Post

property.”Duda said the controlled

burn reignited in heavy windsMonday that fanned embersand blew them into an un-burned area outside a contain-ment line established on March19.

The Lucases, like many oftheir neighbors, had reportedseeing smoke from the burnthroughout the weekend butwere rebuffed, they said, by dis-patchers. Several residents ofthe Pleasant Park Corridor sub-division, including Olson andher neighbor Dave Massa, saidthey received no emergencynotification calls before the fireswept through the neighbor-hood.

Jefferson County sheriff ’sspokeswoman Jacki Kelley saidWednesday that she had heardno reports of residents whoregistered to receive an emer-gency notification not gettingone.

Olson said she first called 911about 2 p.m. Monday, aroundthe time Duda said fire crewspatrolling the controlled-burnarea saw it flare up.

She told a dispatcher that shesmelled smoke. She didn’tknow where it was comingfrom but was worried that thecontrolled burn was out of con-trol. She said the dispatchertold her that there was nothingto worry about.

Olson went outside to lookfor the source of the smell andsaw plumes of smoke risingfrom the area where the con-trolled burn had been. She re-turned to her house and called911 again. She said a dispatchertold her not to call every timethat she smelled smoke.

Three hours later, Olson, herhusband, their three kids andthe family pets made a dash fortheir lives.

“I saw flames at the top of thedriveway. I was absolutely terri-fied,” Olson said. “I felt hysteri-cal.”

Olson drove a Jeep ahead ofher husband, who took the chil-dren in another car. One of herkids videotaped the harrowingpassage down the hill. Flameswere devouring tall pine treeson both sides of the road.

They had no idea whether theroad ahead was cut off by firebecause they had received nowarning, Olson said.

Sam and Moaneti Lucas weremaking final preparations toleave their home when theywere engulfed by fire, a relative,Mellissa Lucas of Bethlehem,Conn., said Wednesday.

Mellissa Lucas said the firecaught up to them as Moanetiwaited in the driveway for Sam,who had gone back into the ga-rage. “We’ll never know whythey didn’t get away,” she said.“It’s such a sad thing to hap-pen.”

Sam may have gone back intothe house to turn on a fire-sup-pression system that wouldhave sprayed foam on the build-ing to protect it, Mellissa Lucassaid.

The Lucases had noticed theflames from the controlledburn on Saturday. One neighborsaid Sam called 911 that day tosay the controlled burn hadflared up again.

On Monday afternoon, Samcalled his son-in-law to say heand Moaneti were packing theirbelongings in a pickup truckbecause they spotted smokeonly 2 miles from their home.

Mary Ann Ellis’ home wasspared, but she lost her goodfriends. She found little com-fort in the apology offered byDuda.

“It was obvious. A 2-year-oldwould have known not to startthat fire,” Ellis said. “Someonemade the wrong decision.”

Ellis was shaking as she de-scribed the loss of her friends,the Lucases.

“We ran for our lives, andthey just didn’t make it,” Ellissaid.

Massa, who lives within amile of the Lucas home, said hefirst called 911 about the con-trolled burn on Thursday after-noon. It appeared out of controland burned through the night,he said. He, too, reported smokefrom the burn throughout theweekend.

He also said he did not re-ceive an emergency call toevacuate, although he was

«FROM 1A

signed up to get one.Bill Suvada, who has lived on

Broken Arrow Drive since 1973,did receive a reverse 911 call. Heloaded artwork and AmericanIndian rugs in a pickup truckand drove his parents, Bill andMarge, who are in their 80s,down the mountain as they fret-ted about their home.

“We got the fear put into us,”Suvada said.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 [email protected]

KILLED IN FIRE

Retireesreveled indream house

Samuel, 77, and Linda “Moaneti”Lucas, 76, spent much of their longmarriage chasing his career as ahigh-level manager at WesternElectric across the country. Butwhen it came time to retire, theypicked Colorado to really settle in,close to where their son, daughterand five grandchildren live.

They bought property on EagleVista Road near Conifer and builttheir dream house.

There, they had a large gardenfenced off from browsing animals.They raised chickens, and Moanetiwas forever devising ways to keepthe foxes away from her hens, saidfamily friend Byron Roderick, amusic minister at a church the Lu-cases attended years ago.

Moaneti painted landscapes. Shehad a beautiful voice and sang foryears in church choirs. She waskind to children in the neighbor-hood, frequently inviting them overto see her hens.

She was an ambitious cook andproduced extraordinary mealsfrom their wood-burning stove,Roderick said.

Samuel was a church elder andtaught Sunday school classes toadults at their church in Littleton.He attended to the details of moun-tain living, cutting and splittingfirewood, and waking up in themiddle of the night to plow his roadduring blizzards, just to make surethe snow didn’t get too deep.

They vacationed infrequently,preferring instead to enjoy theirbeautiful home.

“It was just their dream house inthe mountains,” Roderick said.Kirk Mitchell, The Denver Post

Linda and Samuel LucasSpecial to 9News

66 the denver post B denverpost.com B thursday, march 29, 2012 NEWS «11A


FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012 breezy, warm E77° F48° »12B B © the denver post B $1.00 price may vary outside metro denver 66

Online: Learn more about Colorado and Denver history at The Archive blog. »blogs.denverpost.com/librarydp

INSIDE Business » 5-8B | Comics » 9-11D | Contact The Post » 2B | Lottery » 2B | Movies » 4D | Obituaries » 8B | Puzzles » 9-10D

FLA. POLICEVIDEO RAISESQUESTIONSNo obvious injury to manclaiming self-defense inTrayvonMartin death »6A

2000 2002 2004 2006 20084

6

8

10

12 11.3

6.7

rate per 1,000 u.s. children

Autism disorders growThe prevalence of identified autism spectrum disorders grew nationally 68.7 percent from 2000 to 2008.

Source: Centers for Disease Controland Prevention

The Denver Post

Colo. autism samplehigher thannation’sByMichael Booth The Denver Post

AColorado test county has seen a 60 percent spike indiagnosed autism over two years, far higher than analready-worrisome surge in national rates for the disorder,the CDC and state health officials said Thursday.

ShannonZimmermanofWestminster holds autistic sonLogan, 8.TheCDC found 1 in 85ArapahoeCounty 8-year-olds had autism in 2008, or 11.8 cases per 1,000kids—a60percent jump in twoyears.Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post

TheColoradosegmentof theCen-ters forDiseaseControl andPreven-tion’s national monitoring projectfound 1 in 85 Arapahoe County 8-year-olds had some level of autismin 2008, or 11.8 cases per 1,000 kids.Thatwasa60percent jumpfromthelast comparable study in 2006.The boost in Arapahoe County

numbers was higher than the 23

percent national increase in child-hood autism cases. The CDC’s na-tional composite shows 1 out of 88childrenwith an “autism spectrumdisorder,” across monitoring areasin 14 states.Nationally, the rate has increased

68.7 percent over eight years ofstudy.

AUTISM»10A

ByDavid Migoya The Denver Post

Undaunted that legislatorskilledabill requiring that lendersprove theirright to forecloseonahome,backersof the failed proposal have filed it asa ballot initiative with a harder ap-proach: Foreclosures can’t happenunless all loan papers are properlyrecordedwith the county first.That means anytime a lender

sells or transfers a note, as has beenthe practice for several years in themortgage-backed securities busi-ness, the holdermust file itwith thecounty recorder of deeds.Colorado has not required as-

signments — the legal word forwhen amortgage or note exchangeshands— to be recorded for years, acritical part of the problem in de-terminingwho actually owns a noteduring a foreclosure, proponents ofthe initiative say.“The intent is to ensure there are

no gaps in the line of title,” attorneyStephen Brunette said. “Title re-cords now are being totallymessedwith. Colorado’s foreclosure pro-cess today is fundamentally un-sound.”The ballot initiative— called the

ForeclosureDueProcess and FraudPrevention Initiative — squarelytakes on Colorado law that unique-ly allows for “no-doc” foreclosures,where lenders can take a homewithout ever having to prove theyhave that right.“In other states, courts are scruti-

nizingwhether the foreclosing par-ty has the right to foreclose andconcluding that inmost cases (theyhaven’t) demonstrated that rightwith proper documentation,” said

FORECLOSURE»13A

Ballotmaygive bill onforeclosure2nd chanceLegislation requiring noteassignments to be filed withthe countywas killed in aGOP-controlled committee.

Warnings went outnear Broomfield andin Texas butmissedsome near the fire.

Some evacuation calls failed

ByKirk Mitchelland Jordan SteffenThe Denver Post

Emergency notification callswarning residents of a deadlywild-fire near Conifer were received asfar away as Amarillo, Texas, andacross Jefferson County, setting offa flood of calls that clogged lines toemergency dispatchers.Meanwhile, authorities are inves-

tigating why 12 percent of targetedphones closest to the Lower NorthFork fire did not receive themanda-tory evacuation notifications, Jef-ferson County Sheriff Ted Minksaid Thursday afternoon.“We’re scratching our heads try-

ing to get to the bottom of it,” Minksaid.Matt Teague, president of First-

Call Network, which installed theemergency notification networklast year, said nothing went wrongand that 88 percent notification is agreat rate.“The system worked exactly as it

was supposed to,” Teague said, add-ing that a small percentageofpeopleweren’t notified because they didn’tanswer threephonecalls—probablybecause theyhadalready evacuated.

FIRE»13A

A fire crew puts out hotspots along Kuehster Road,where most of the homeswere lost. Helen H. Richardson,The Denver Post

Back home. Mostevacuees, including thefour-legged kind, areallowed to return home.»fire coverage: 1B, 4B

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT IN DENVERFinal Four games Sunday; national championship Tuesday

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DENVER & THE WESTMEGAMILLIONSMANIA AS PRIZE VAULTSLottery fever spreads in Colorado as the jackpot in today’s nationalMegaMillions drawing tops $500million. Residents ofWyoming andUtah—which don’t partake— flocked across state lines to play. »1B

Karissa Sanchez, 1, rests as she and her dad wait more than threehours to buy tickets in California. Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

BUSINESSTWO SKI RESORTSTO CLOSE EARLYThe ski season has become acasualty of a dry winter, with earlyclosures announced byMonarchMountain and Ski Cooper. »5B

ENTERTAINMENTPAIR GET READY FORTHEIR GREAT ESCAPETwo Boulder women aim towinNBC’s new “Escape Routes,”which features prominently aFord SUVmodel. »1D

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By Kristi EatonThe Associated Press

south sioux city, neb.»Governors of three states gotup close with “pink slime”Thursday, touching and exam-ining treated beef at a plantand eating hamburgers madewith it in a bid to convinceconsumers and grocery storesthe product is safe to consume.

The three governors and twolieutenant governors spentabout a half-hour learning aboutthe process of creating finelytextured lean beef in a tour ofthe main plant that makes theproduct, then blasted the media

for scaring consumers with amoniker coined by critics.

“If you called it finely tex-tured lean beef, would we behere?” asked Kansas Gov. SamBrownback. Other leadersechoed his comments as theytried to smooth over consumerconcerns about the product.

Beef Products, the main pro-ducer of the cheap lean beefmade from fatty bits of meatleft over from other cuts, hasdrawn scrutiny over concernsabout the ammonium hydrox-ide it treats the meat with tochange the beef’s acidity andkill bacteria. The company sus-pended operations at plants inTexas, Kansas and Iowa thisweek, affecting 650 jobs, butdefends its product as safe.

The politicians who toured

the plant — Texas Gov. RickPerry, Brownback, Iowa Gov.Terry Branstad, Nebraska Lt.Gov. Rick Sheehy and SouthDakota Lt. Gov. Matt Michels—all agree with the industryview that the beef has been un-fairly maligned and mislabeled.

“Why are we here today de-fending a company that has arather sterling record dealingwith making a food productthat is very much needed inthis country in a very safemanner? Why are we here to-day?” Perry said.

The officials spent about20 minutes going over the pro-duction process with CraigLetch, the company’s directorof quality assurance, viewingand handling more than a doz-en slabs of raw meat and the

processed, finished productlaid out on cutting boards on around wooden table.

The officials asked about theadded ammonia, which Letchsaid is used as an extra safetyprecaution against E. coli.

“What we’re doing with am-monium hydroxide is directlytargeting those specific micro-organisms that could affect hu-man health. It is nothing morethan something to ensure con-sumer safety,” Letch said.

The officials donned hardhats, hair nets and goggles for awalking tour through the facil-ity. Afterward, Perry, Branstadand others ate burgers madefrom the plant’s meat.

“It’s lean. It’s good. It’s nutri-tious,” Branstad said as he pol-ished off a patty, sans bun.

But authorities are not con-vinced that is the case and haveset up a backup plan in casemore evacuations are necessaryin the coming days when tem-peratures are supposed to soarinto the 80s and brisk winds areforecast.

The Sheriff ’s Office will sendemergency vehicles to evacua-tion areas to warn people toleave their homes immediatelyin case of a new fire threat, saidJacki Kelley, spokeswoman forthe Jefferson County Sheriff ’sOffice. When people hear si-rens, it’s a signal to leave imme-diately, not in 30 minutes, Kel-ley said.

“We hate that this happened,”she said Thursday. “I reallyhope that we have some an-swers tomorrow.”

Dispatchers distractedMink said investigators are

trying to determine why warn-ings were sent to homes as farnorth as the Broomfield Countyline and as distant as Texas,triggering a flood of distractingcalls from residents concernedabout a blaze that was nowherenear their homes.

Dispatchers were boggeddown explaining where the fireactually was to people whoweren’t in danger when theyneeded to be communicatingwith rescuers and people introuble.

“We don’t have a clue howmany (notifications) went tothe wrong people,” Mink said.

Several people said they re-ceived notifications of a fireeven though they were no-where near the fire.

Sandra Nance, 65, who livesin Wheat Ridge, said she re-ceived a text message on hercellphone and an e-mail warn-ing about a wildfire just after5 p.m. Monday. She calledWheat Ridge police and askedwhether a fire was burning innearby open space and was toldit was likely a mistake.

“It’s criminal,” Nance said.“It’s gross negligence. They re-ally need to get their computersystem squared away.”

Jeff Irvin, executive directorof the Jefferson County Emer-gency Communications Au-thority, said it is possible thatthe first wave of notificationsmistakenly went to all Jefferson

«FROM 1A and Broomfield county resi-dents who signed up online fore-mail and text-message notifi-cations. It’s unclear how thathappened, he said.

The communications author-ity manages emergency phonesfor Jefferson and Broomfieldcounties, as well as municipali-ties and fire-protection dis-tricts within their boundaries.

Kelley said people don’t haveto wait until they are contactedby authorities about a fire ifthey don’t feel safe. They canevacuate at any time, she said.

People should take responsi-bility for their own safety, shesaid.

Kelley said Samuel Lucas, 77,and his wife, Linda, 76, whodied within the fire zone Mon-day, did receive an automatedcall. Neighbors have said, how-ever, that the Lucases told themthey did not receive a call.

Kelley did not know whetherAnn Appel, who is still missingin the burn zone, received a call.

Smelling smokeSeveral of the Lucases’ neigh-

bors, including Kim Olson, saidthey did not receive a warningcall despite calling dispatch forseveral hours about smellingand seeing smoke. Olson saidshe heard her phone ringing asshe was fleeing her house.

Olson had reported that acontrolled burn near her homeseemed to have reignited butsaid dispatchers told her not tokeep calling every time shesmelled smoke and that she wasnot in jeopardy. Ultimately Ol-son, her husband and threechildren escaped as flameswere burning on either side oftheir road.

Kelley said that early on, dis-patchers did tell residents theywere smelling a controlledburn, but when they learnedthat it was out of control, theytold them it was a 5-acre fire outof control.

Mink said investigators willeventually review every emer-gency call made Monday to de-termine whether dispatchersacted appropriately. But for thetime being, the department’sfirst priority is putting out thefire, he said.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206,[email protected],twitter.com/kmitchelldp

Debra Fortenberry, a ColoradoSprings attorney who helpeddraft the initiative with Bru-nette and the Colorado Pro-gressive Coalition.

“In Colorado, there is noth-ing to scrutinize,” she said.

No other state allows for aforeclosure without the lenderfirst proving it is the right enti-ty to do so. Colorado allowsforeclosure lawyers to sign a“statement of qualified hold-er,” which basically says theythink their client owns thenote or mortgage without everactually seeing it — a practicesome states have labeled as“robo-signing.”

Colorado law allows a fore-closure to continue even if thelawyer gets it wrong — anddoesn’t hold anyone account-able for the mistake. It’s acrime in Nevada, one of thestates to use deeds of trust likeColorado.

Initiative hearing setOpponents of House Bill 1156

who helped kill it in a Republi-can-controlled committeeMarch 13 said the initiativecould push lenders from themarket.

“Our one concern is thatnothing hurt lending in Colo-rado,” said Don Childears,president of the ColoradoBankers Association. “We’renot jumping to a conclusionthat it’s automatically bad andhave organizations against ittomorrow. But we’re aggres-sively thinking through its im-pact.”

HB 1156 sought to have lend-ers provide proof — theoreti-cally a certified copy of a mort-gage or loan note — that theyhad the right to foreclose on aproperty. It also would have re-quired a judge to review thepaperwork and certify a lend-er’s standing before orderingthe public auction of a fore-closed home.

The proposed initiative isscheduled for a hearing at theLegislative Council on April 6,the first step to reaching No-vember’s ballot. The proposalwould need more than 87,100validated signatures to get onthe ballot, according to theColorado secretary of state’soffice.

“Foreclosure is the only civilproceeding in Colorado where

«FROM 1A

no disclosures are required,”Brunette said. “Even in small-claims court, you have to pro-duce the evidence so you cansue, but to take a home, theydon’t have to produce a thing.”

Tracking ownershipMortgages were bought and

sold so often in what becametoxic mortgage-backed securi-ties that it became difficult —and costly — to file each of theresulting transfers with acounty.

Colorado does not requireevery ownership transfer of amortgage to be recorded, butother states do.

Thousands of homeownersfacing foreclosure — eventhose who simply wanted torefinance as interest rates tum-bled — have recounted experi-ences of simply trying to deter-mine who owned their mort-gage.

The initiative nearly repli-cates a similar law recentlypassed in Nevada, which re-quires that all mortgage loandocuments and their transfersbe recorded. If not, the lenderis not allowed to foreclose.

“If lenders have their stuff ina row, all their documentsproperly filed like they used todo it, there will absolutely beno problem,” Brunette said.“This solves the problems.”

David Migoya: 303-954-1506,[email protected],twitter.com/DavidMigoya

Governors promote “pink slime” safetyThey say beefgets a bad rap

FIRE: Backup plan setin case of new trouble

FORECLOSURE: Initiative resembles new Nevada law

Ballot proposalThis is the text of the foreclosure initiative filed with the Colorado secretary of state’s of-fice. Once a legislative measure, the plan was killed in committee:

No person shall be deprived of real propertythrough a foreclosure unless the party claimingthe right to foreclose files in the foreclosureproceeding competent evidence of its right toenforce a valid security interest, recorded be-fore the foreclosure is commenced, with theclerk and recorder of the county in which thereal property is located, in accord with ArticleXIV, Section 8 of this Constitution. Competentevidence shall include (1) the evidence of debt;(2) endorsements, assignments, or transfers, ifany, of the evidence of debt to the foreclosingparty; and (3) duly recorded assignments, if any,of the recorded security interest to the foreclos-ing party. Any statutes inconsistent with thisArticle II, Section 25(a) are repealed on the ef-fective date of this Section.

Associated Press file

dp Online: Get the lateston the housing market andcheck out our real estatetools.»denverpost.com/realestate

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, followed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, walks past a conveyor carrying cuts of beef destined to be-come finely textured lean beef Thursday at a Beef Products plant in South Sioux City, Neb. Nati Harnik, The Associated Press

dp Online. More images, video and coverage of theLower North Fork fire. »denverpost.com

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6 the denver post B denverpost.com B friday, march 30, 2012 NEWS «13A

DENVER&THEWESTRUNNERMISSINGMicah True of Boulderlast seen in N.M. »3B

Business » 5-8B

BEST BUY SHRINKSBIG-BOX LOCATIONSElectronics giant to open smaller outlets » 5B

Wall StreetDOW JONES19.61 | 0.2 %13,145.82

NASDAQ9.60 | 0.3%3,095.36

S&P 5002.26 | 0.2%1,403.28

Coverage » 6B

Map area

Denver

The Denver Post

Source: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

NC

470

2 miles

ASPEN PARK

CONIFER

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Conifer High SchoolWest Jefferson Middle School

Evacuationarea

285

285

Lower NorthFork fire area

County Road 88

By Jordan Steffen The Denver Post

Patrick Bentley smiled and cooed at Hank, ananxious painted horse, as he led himoff the trailer.“Easy, you’re all right,” Bentley said to Hank as

the horse nudged his snout into Bentley’s neck.“He’s happy to be home.”Hank was one of nine horses who returned to

theAspenCreekVeterinaryHospital onThursdayafter officials opened several roads and allowedmany evacuees of the Lower North Fork fire to gohome. But like all residents allowedhome, Bentleyand Hank were told to remain on standby and beprepared for a second evacuation.“That’s a significant number of people that get

to go home,” said Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman forthe Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office. “They needto be ready to go again.”Because an initial investigation revealed that a

glitch in the emergency notification system pre-vented 12 percent of targeted phones from receiv-

ing a call, Kelley said a patrol car will drivethrough the area with its lights and sirens blaringif a second evacuation is necessary.“You don’t have 30 minutes (if you hear the si-

rens),” she said. “You need to leave now.”Residents who returned to their homes were

urged to pack their belongings and keep them intheir vehicles or close to the door.Search teams continued to expand efforts to find

amissingwoman,whowas identifiedThursday as51-year-oldAnnAppel. TheUrbanSearch andRes-cue team and its dogs covered about 220 acresThursday with no sign of Appel.“We are urgently searching forAnn and appreci-

ate your prayers for her safety,”Appel’s family saidin a statement. “We are deeply grateful for all ofthose helping in the search.”Officials also continue to investigate the deaths

of Samuel Lucas, 77, and his wife, Linda, 76, whodied at their home, which was destroyed.

FIRE»4B

LOWER NORTH FORK FIRE

“He’s happy to be home”

Evacuation zone opened to residents, while teams hunt for missing woman

Patrick Bentley unloads a painted horse namedHank at the Aspen Creek Veterinary Hospital after an evacuation order was lifted in Jef-ferson County on Thursday afternoon. Bentley indicates the direction of the fire that onMonday forced the owners of the clinic to evac-uate nine horses from the premises. About 180 homes remained evacuated Thursday because of the Lower North Fork fire, and about6,500 homes are on standby in case of a second evacuation. Karl Gehring, The Denver Post

Video. Four Colorado Army National Guard helicopters haddumped roughly 55,000 gallons of water on the wildfire as ofThursday morning. »denverpost.com/mediacenter

Slide shows. See additional Denver Post staff and readerphotos. »denverpost.com/mediacenter

Updates. Get the latest news on the fire. »denverpost.com

By Tim Hoover The Denver Post

Budget-writing state lawmakers brokethrough a partisan impasse Thursday whenthey settled on a smaller cut for state agenciesthat could avoid many layoffs.“Score!” a jubilant Rep. CheriGerou, R-Ever-

green and chairwoman of the Joint BudgetCommittee, exclaimed after the stalemate was

finally ended after multiple attempts.Democrats and Republicans on the evenly

split six-member committee had deadlockedover the issue ofwhether to reverse a 2 percentacross-the-board cut to state agencies’ payrollsthat the panel had approved earlier this year.The cut was intended to come in the form of“vacancy savings,” which occur when higher-paid employees leave and are replaced by low-

er-paid ones.The move aimed to cut $20.3 million, which

Democrats agreed to in exchange for a budgetincrease of $15.9million for stateworkers’ high-er health costs. The net savings, therefore, was$4.4 million.However, state agencies said that aftermulti-

ple years of such cuts, they could no longer ab-sorb them and would be forced to lay off asmany as 500workers. Republicans on the JointBudget Committee said they did not believe

BUDGET»4B

State budget panel breaks partisan impasseAfter days of haggling, lawmakers approve a smaller cut for agencies thanone the committee hadOK’d earlier this year and that could savemany jobs.

By Carlos Illescas The Denver Post

Trevor Ritchhart made the drive south fromCheyenne toWellington on Thursday afternoonwith one thought inmind: becoming theCowboyState’s newest mega-millionaire.Like others fromWyoming—whereMegaMil-

lions lottery tickets cannot be bought—Ritchhartjust couldn’t resist. At the Loaf ‘N Jug across thestate line inWellington,Ritchhartplaced$20onthecounter forMegaMillions tickets, puttinghisover-all tab for lottery tickets thismonth at 100 bucks.And why not? As of Thursday afternoon, the

MegaMillions jackpot had grown to a whopping$540 million.“I have as good of a chance as anyone else,”

Ritchhart said.He has big plans if he does win.“Myself and my family will be set,” he said.

“Can’twait to buy a nice house, donate to charity,all kinds of things.”

JACKPOT»3B

MEGA MILLIONS AT HALF -BILLION

Lottery feverlures dreamersin nearby states

DemsweighGessleroptionsEfforts to recall, impeach orrestrain the secretary of stateare longshots, analysts say.

Online. Additional Denver Post coverageof a possible attempt to remove Secretary ofState Scott Gessler. »denverpost.com/extras

By Sara Burnett The Denver Post

As the Colorado Democratic Party spentThursday vetting potential ways to remove Re-publican Secretary of State ScottGessler fromof-fice, political observers characterized the effortas everything from “off-the-wall” to a politicalploy and — perhaps most important — a long-shot.“If the Democrats want Mr. Gessler out of of-

fice, my advice is to get to work recruiting astrong candidate to run against him (in 2014),raisemoney … and turn (Gessler) out of office inwhat is the most legitimate way possible in a de-mocracy,” said BobLoevy, aRepublican and a po-litical science professor at Colorado College.“Any other option is bizarre, off-the-wall and

unlikely to succeed,” he said.State Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio

on Wednesday called on voters to “consider allavenues necessary” to remove Gessler from of-fice, saying he has put his political agenda aboveColoradans’ right to vote.The statement came hours after the secretary

of state testified against a bipartisan bill thatwould have ensured more than 300,000 inactive

GESSLER»4B

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such dire consequences would occureven after GOP officeholders Secre-tary of State Scott Gessler, TreasurerWalker Stapleton and Attorney Gener-al John Suthers opposed the cuts.

When state revenues improved con-siderably this month, the Joint BudgetCommittee began restoring statespending for a senior property-taxbreak and for K-12 and higher educa-tion. But Democrats also wanted to re-store the payroll cuts for state agen-cies, saying there was now no need toimpose them.

«FROM 1B Republicans fought that, and thecommittee locked up on 3-3 votes atmultiple times this week. Finally onThursday, Rep. Jon Becker, R-FortMorgan, offered a solution everyonecould live with.

Becker proposed making the cutonly a 1 percent vacancy-savings cut,and with only a 0.5 percent cut to judi-cial agencies, in which lawmakers haddecided salaries were perilously lowand in which many salaries, such asthose of judges, can’t be touched bylaw. Becker also proposed exemptingagencies with 20 or fewer employees,where it is difficult to enact cuts with-

out losing workers.His plan also exempts corrections

workers, state troopers and workers atround-the-clock facilities such asmental-health institutions, youth cor-rectional facilities and centers for theseverely developmentally disabled.

Becker’s compromise was accepted6-0 after various permutations wererejected on 3-3 votes and after Demo-crats refused to back down on the is-sue of bearing the costs of health in-surance increases for state workers.

Gerou made it clear she would notbudge on cutting state payroll. Shepointed to job losses in the construc-

tion industry and said state workerswere better off in comparison.

“They have not had to bear the bruntof the recession that a lot who don’twork in state government have,” Gerousaid.

But Democrats on the panel, such asRep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said thatwasn’t true. State workers have not hadraises in four years, they took fur-loughs in one year, their payments totheir retirement plan increased andthey have had to continually absorbhealth insurance increases, Levy said.

Still, Colorado WINS, the union thatrepresents many state workers, said

the compromise agreed upon Thurs-day was “reasonable.”

“Our understanding from the gover-nor’s office is that this agreement willmitigate any job loss,” said Scott Was-serman, the union’s executive director.“We are especially relieved that the24/7 and public safety divisions will beheld harmless.

“These are the divisions that havebeen hardest-hit by the revenue crisisand where staffing is truly a life-or-death issue.”

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626or [email protected]

voters receive a mail ballotfor the November election.Gessler said the bill wouldcause “massive confusion”months before a presidentialelection, and he disputedsupporters’ arguments itwould cut costs. A Republi-can-controlled House com-mittee then killed the bill.

Palacio’s statement was is-sued hours later. On Thurs-day, party officials werefielding calls and deep inconversation about their op-tions, spokesman Matt Inzeosaid.

Among them, experts said,are recall, impeachment bystate legislators and a con-stitutional amendment totake away some of Gessler’sauthority.

But all of those options areexpensive, take time andwould be difficult to accom-plish absent some kind ofscandal or behavior border-ing on the criminal.

“It might come off lookinglike a partisan witch hunt,”said Ken Bickers, professorand chairman of the politicalscience department at theUniversity of Colorado.

John Straayer, a politicalscience professor at Colora-do State University, agreed arecall isn’t likely to happen.But he said it’s “not a losingstrategy” for Democrats.

“It highlights the pointthat he’s on the march with ahuge number of matters thatare highly controversial, notjust with Democrats butamong his own party,”Straayer said.

Bickers speculated Demo-crats may have an ulteriormotive: creating “a sto-ryline” to appeal to a partic-ular group of voters. Mostlikely that’s Latinos, who areamong those voters Demo-crats say will be dispropor-tionately affected byGessler’s efforts, and a vot-ing bloc that will be key toPresident Barack Obamawinning re-election this fall.

“To me it’s a sign that theythink they have a weaknessin the presidential election,”Bickers said.

But Inzeo insisted thedust-up is about voters’ fun-damental right to cast a bal-lot.

“It isn’t just about theDemocratic Party,” he said.“It’s about people concernedabout the direction this elec-tion could be headed if wehave a secretary of state whofeels he can manipulate therules.”

Meanwhile, Gessler’s of-fice issued a news releasetrumpeting three other elec-tion-related bills that havereceived strong bipartisansupport — a less-than-subtlereminder that his office iscapable of building coali-tions from both sides of theaisle.

“While (Democrats) areillustrating a willingness tothrow temper tantrums,we’re going to stay policy-focused and continue towork with legislators to findgood policy going forward,”said Rich Coolidge, publicinformation officer for thesecretary of state.

Sara Burnett: 303-954-1661or [email protected]

«FROM 1B

GESSLER:

Dems sayvote rightsat stake

BUDGET: Boulder representative cites sacrifices made by state workers for years

The Lucas family issued a statementlate Thursday, saying, “We are continu-ing to process the passing of our be-loved parents and grandparents. Whilenothing can replace the loss, we as afamily are focusing on celebrating theirlives.

“They are continually loved and willbe forever missed.”

There will be a memorial service forthe Lucases at 1 p.m. today at SouthernGables Church at 4001 S. WadsworthBlvd. in Jefferson County.

About noon Thursday, as fire crewscontinued working to contain the fireand extinguish spot fires, officialsopened the back roads for the evacueeswho were allowed to return to the areanear Conifer and Aspen Park. But 180homes remained evacuated and 6,500homes are still on standby, Kelley said.There is no estimate for when the re-maining residents will be allowed to re-turn.

The residents of those homes thatwere damaged or destroyed were es-corted to their homes and given about30 minutes to go through their belong-ings, said Dan Hatlestad, spokesmanfor the Jefferson County Incident Man-agement Team.

“In most cases there was little to col-lect,” Hatlestad said.

The 4,140-acre fire exploded to lifeMonday after embers from a pre-scribed burn preformed last week bythe Colorado State Forest Service reig-nited in strong winds.

On Monday, Bentley helped load theanimals onto trailers as a plume ofsmoke built and crept over the ridge. Theanimals were taken to a friend’s ranch.

“It looked like a bomb went off,”Bentley said.

On Thursday, a flood of returning ve-hicles and trailers filled the narrowroads as Bentley made several trips tobring back the horses.

“It was trailer after trailer,” Bentleysaid. “These roads looked like I-25 dur-ing rush hour.”

Staff writer Joey Bunch contributedto this report.

«FROM 1B

A hand crew from the Mountain View Fire District puts water on hot spots along Kuehster Road, where most of the homes were lost. There was no growthin the 4,140-acre Lower North Fork fire Thursday, but crews are nervous that high winds forecast for the weekend might flare the flames. The forecast callsfor gusts of 20 mph and 30 to 40 mph at higher elevations. Photos by Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

By Joey Bunch The Denver Post

jefferson county» Hundreds ofelite firefighters from across the Westwill be climbing the steep ridges andscaling the deep ravines of JeffersonCounty today in a race to get ahead ofhigh weekend winds that could causethe Lower North Fork fire to flare.

“We have a two-day window ofweather fairly favorable for us to makehay,” incident commander Rich Har-vey said Thursday afternoon.

There was no growth in the 4,140-acre fire Thursday, and containmentgrew from 15 percent to 45 percent, ascrews cut 3.5 miles of containmentlines into the rugged terrain.

They will hit it full force today, Har-vey said.

Of the 900 homes evacuated, mostwere allowed home Thursday, exceptfor 180 homes in the Kuehster, Critch-ell and Maxwell Hill neighborhoods.There are 6,500 residences on noticeof another possible evacuation if thefire rekindles.

There is no estimate on when thefire will be contained and when the fi-nal evacuation orders will be lifted.

The prospect of high winds return-ing to the foothills this weekend hadfirefighters and residents nervous.The forecast calls for 20-mph windgusts, and 30 to 40 mph at higher ele-vations. Temperatures will be near re-cord highs.

“God help us if we have another onelike Monday,” said Martin Strachan,who was filling his Jeep with gasThursday in Conifer, a few miles northof the fire, which erupted from a con-trolled burn in 70-mph gusts.

“I thought my house was going toblow down,” Strachan said. “If that firecomes roaring north, then that’s it.”

Of the 27 homes that were destroyedor damaged, about 21 homeownersand others who had damage were es-corted to their property by sheriff ’sdeputies Thursday.

Some crew members were dis-patched from the Lower North Fork

fire Thursday afternoon to help putout the 7-acre West Creek fire in anarea of the Pike and San Isabel Nation-al Forest north of Woodland Park thatwas burned by the Hayman fire in1992.

Harvey said it had no effect on thefire fight in Jefferson County.

“We remain focused on our primarymission,” he said.

Because of an unusually dry March,low humidity and high winds, thefoothills and high country are poisedto burn with dead, dry foliage anddead trees.

Gov. John Hickenlooper onWednesday suspended prescribedburns by the state. Jefferson andBoulder counties and Denver Moun-tain Parks instituted bans on camp-fires and most other outdoor burn-ing Tuesday.

Other counties, including Gilpinand Eagle, implemented bans Thurs-day.


FIRE: Memorialservice todayfor couple whodied in home

Winds this weekendmake crews anxious

Gov. John Hickenlooper prepares Thursday to board a Colorado ArmyNational Guard helicopter to get an aerial view of damage from the LowerNorth Fork fire. He also spoke with evacuees and residents who lost theirhomes. The fire was 45 percent contained Thursday.

How to helpThe Mountain Resource Center, alocal community center in Coni-fer at 11030 Kitty Drive, hasagreed to accept the followingitems 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday and 9 a.m. to 2p.m. this Saturday and Sunday:

Gift cards in small denomina-tions of $15 to $25 (Target, Wal-mart, local grocery stores andgas stations).Pantry food items that are non-perishable.Seasonal new or nearly newclothing, folded and put in boxes.Those wishing to donate furni-ture or appliances are asked tocontact the center directly at303-838-7552 or [email protected] be mailed toMountain Resource Center,P.O. Box 425Conifer, CO 80433Financial donations can be givenat mrcco.org as well.

4B» DENVER & THE WEST friday, march 30, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 66


SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 record highs E84° F50° »10B B © the denver post B $1.00 price may vary outside metro denver 6

Online today: Updates on progress against the Lower North Fork fire. »denverpost.com/breakingnewsdp

INSIDE Business » 5-7B | Comics » 5-7D | Lottery » 2B | Markets » 6B | Movies » 4D | Obituaries » 7B | Puzzles » 5-6D

By Tim Hoover The Denver Post

Business owners and lawmakerswere livid Friday after learning of themultimillion-dollar amounts PinnacolAssurance, the state-chartered work-ers’ compensation insurance fund, hasspent on efforts to privatize itself.In response to an open-records re-

quest from a group of employers andworkers’ compensation attorneys, thequasi-governmental agency revealedthat it had spent $1.6million since Jan-uary on lobbying, advertising andpub-lic relations services in the push toprivatize itself.The expenses were first reported in

the Denver Business Journal, whichalso reported additional expensessince September for legal, financialand consulting services that broughtthe total to $3.5 million.

PINNACOL»15A

2012 WILDFIRE OUTLOOK

State off to combustible startThe driestMarch onrecord leaves the FrontRange a giant red zonethat’s quick to ignite.

Austin Ebert, 8, of Commerce City gets a lesson in spinning basketballs while visiting the NCAATourney Town on Fri-day at the Colorado Convention Center. Tourney Town is free and open to the public through Sunday. It offers music,autographs, basketball clinics, exhibits, games, a pep rally and a mascot competition. It runs in conjunction with the

NCAAWomen’s Final Four in Denver, where approximately 30,000 fans are expected. »story, 4B Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post

PUTTINGONA SPIN

Follow the play: Women prepare for Sunday’s showdown, while NCAA’s men battle today in New Orleans. Sports, 1C; DENVERPOST.COM

By Electa Draper The Denver Post

The stingy skies and water-stealingwinds of March have land managersworried the statewill burn upbefore itgreens up.Most springtimes, state and national

forest crews take advantage of thecooler weather and wetter conditionsto do prescribed burns — working toclear brush and reduce fire risk.But the state stopped those burns af-

ter one reignited andbecame the dead-ly Lower North Fork fire, and the fed-eral foresters announced their ownbanFriday, citing the dangerous condi-tions and the need to divert crews tobattle blazes.The lastweek ofMarch lookedmore

like midsummer, as hundreds of fire-fighters worked the lines in JeffersonCounty and air tankers flew overhead,making multiple drops. Counties allalong the Front Range and into themountains issued burning bans.Everything points to a long fire sea-

son in Colorado.“Conditions are really bad,”U.S. For-

est Service spokesman Steve Seginsaid. “Conditions might improve. Ifthey don’t, we’re in for a long haul.”

FIRE»16A

Online: Images, video andcoverage of the Lower NorthFork fire. »denverpost.com

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BOARD BLAMESMEEKERSCHOOL ENGINEERA state board alleges violation of staterules and substandardwork. »1BFire victims mourned: Sam and Linda

“Moaneti” Lucas are remembered Fridayby friends and family who filled SouthernGables Church in Jefferson County. »1B

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It is the Front Range’s driest Marchin 124 years of records, Colorado Cli-mate Center researcher Wendy Ryansaid. Therewas nomeasurable precip-itation in the metro area.You have to go back to 1966 for a

comparably miserly March in Denver,yet even that one produced 0.01 of aninch of water.It looks as if this will be the second-

warmest March on record for Denver,surpassed only by 1910. Daytime highsin Denver were 9 degrees higher thanthe March average. Nighttime lowswere 6 degrees higher.“If it weren’t for the early fires, we’d

call this a nice spring,” state climatolo-gist Nolan Doesken said.“People are loving the warm weath-

er. It’s more like May. But there’s thisnagging discomfort watching themountain snowpack go so early. You’reenjoying the sunshine but knowing it’snot quite right.”The snowpack is at 60 percent of

normal statewide. Almost the entirestate is either “abnormally dry” or in ashort-term “moderate drought,” ac-cording to the National Weather Ser-vice Climate Prediction Center. Thestate’s southeastern corner is experi-encing severe drought.The Lower North Fork fire, which

has claimed two lives, was continuingto burn actively Friday, with a total ofmore than 4,000 acres scorched. Fire-fighters expect to have it contained bySunday if they outmaneuver highwinds predicted this weekend.More counties are banning open

fires by the hour.“I’m going camping this weekend,

and I amnot lighting a fire,” Ryan said.“Too dangerous.”TheClimate PredictionCenter indi-

cates the 30-day outlook is for April tobe warmer and drier than normal.“We do get years like this — dry

springs,” said Skip Smith, head of Col-orado State University’s forest andrangeland stewardship department.“One good storm could turn thingsaround.”

«FROM 1A

Things could be worse. Last year’ssnowpackwas good, so storage in statereservoirs is helping.And February was one of the snowi-

est on recordwith 300 percent of aver-age precipitation. The soil still holdssome of thatmoisture, and newgreen-ery should push up to dampen the cur-rent tinderbox of last season’s deadplants.Yet because March historically pro-

vides so of much of Colorado’s snow,Ryan said, a really wet Februarydoesn’tmake up for a really dryMarch.“To get shut out like this inMarch is

serious,” Ryan said.Last year also saw a dry March,

Segin said. And while there were sev-eral fires this month — one cata-strophic— last yearwas evenworse interms of some numbers.The northern Front Range suburbs

experienced 27 wildfires in March2011. That was nine times what hadbeen the 15-year average of three. Butwet, cool May and June saved the 2011season, Segin said.Until saving rain or snow comes,

much of the Front Range finds itself ina red zone — the place where homes,woodlands and terrible conditionsoverlap.Right now, Segin said, everything

east of the Continental Divide and be-low 8,000 or 9,000 feet is a red zone.“The key component in all this is ig-

nition,” Segin said. “Fires this time ofyear, before lightning storms startaround lateMay, are almost all causedby humans.”

Electa Draper: 303-954-1276or [email protected]

The foundation is all that is left of this home along Kuehster Road, where many homes were lost to the Lower North Fork fire this week. The blaze,which roared upMonday evening, was still burning Friday, and firefighters hope to have it all under control this weekend, although high winds are fore-cast. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

MichaelDavis, avolunteerfirefighterfor Elk Creek,sharpens hisline-diggingtool Tuesday.The JeffersonCounty firehas ragedsinceMondaynight.RJ Sangosti,The Denver Post

FIRE:Nearlyall of statenotably dry

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16A» NEWS saturday, march 31, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6

9News anchor Kyle Dyer will once again be sharing hermornings with a television audience.Dyer announced Friday morning that she is heading

back to workMonday after recovering from being bittenin the face by a dog on live television.“Woke up at 5 a.m. to get ready for an even earlier alarm onMonday.

Yes, I’m headed back to work! HappyWeekend!” Dyer posted on herFacebook page Friday morning.Dyer was bitten byMax, an Argentine mastiff, on Feb. 8, and the wound

required 70 stitches in an initial surgery. Despite the injury, Dyer kept apositive, optimistic attitude during her recovery.She also went on NBC’s “Today” to talk about the incident.Max the dog spent 10 days in quarantine before being released to his

owner.While recovering from the dog bite, the morning news anchor also

underwent an unrelated hip-replacement surgery. The Denver Post

ROUNDUP

Aman shot an Evans police officer early Friday, and officersreturned fire, hitting the suspect.The incident happened about 1 a.m. in the 2400 block of

Quay Street, according to an Evans police news release.Officers went to the home on a medical-assist call, and

when they arrived, a man opened fire, police said.Officer Peter Bratton was shot in the upper back, police

said. He was in stable condition Friday, with injuries that werenot life-threatening.The suspect, who has not been identified, was shot in the

head. Hewas scheduled for surgery, police said. Further details on his conditionwere not released.Bratton and a second officer, who has not been identified, returned fire in

the incident, police said. That officer was not hit by gunfire.A woman who was home at the time was taken to a local hospital for inju-

ries that do “not appear to be related to the shooting,” police said. The inci-dent is being investigated by theWeld County Sheriff ’s Office, the GreeleyPolice Department and Evans police. Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post

CHARGES FILED INDEATH NEAR SCHOOLCharges have been filed against asuspect arrested earlier this week inthe shooting of 18-year-old De’QuanWalker Smith.Mannie Legrand, 20, is being

charged with first-degree murderafter deliberation and first-degreemurder with extreme indifference.Both are felonies.The charges allege that onMarch

19 at about 2:40 p.m., Legrand shotand killedWalker-Smith near East29th Avenue and Franklin Street, justblocks fromManual High School.Legrand is being held without bail

and will make his first court appear-anceMonday. Court records showLegrand already had a warrant for aparole violation in November 2010.Legrand had been released from

prison on parole after he was sen-tenced to serve four years for a felonyburglary case from August 2009.

Woman charged with attemptedkidnapping. Awoman was chargedthis week in the attempted kidnap-ping of her 5-year-old daughter earli-er this month after the plan wentwrong and she was shot by an accom-plice.AdolfinaWaters, 25, is charged with

solicitation to commit kidnappingand two counts of child abuse.According to a news release from

the Denver district attorney’s office,Waters and Jose Rodriguez, 25,agreed to a plan to helpWaters un-lawfully take her daughter from thechild’s father.OnMarch 9, they tried to carry out

the plan, but during the incident, thechild’s father attempted to disarmRodriguez but the gun went off and abullet struckWaters in the chest.Waters was treated at a local hospi-

tal and is now in custody. Her bail isset at $50,000. Rodriguez is also incustody on $150,000 bail.

Avalanche kills man near Telluride.AColorado man has died in an ava-lanche on Ophir Pass, near Telluride.SanMiguel County Sheriff Bill

Masters said the man was the first ina group of four skiers to head down aslope Friday afternoon when the oth-ers yelled that an avalanche was com-ing. They say the avalanche caughthim just as he turned to look back.Masters said the slide was about 1

mile long and 200 yards wide.

DA candidate charged with domes-tic violence.Criminal defense law-yer Todd Barson, the locally favoredDemocratic candidate for districtattorney, was charged with domesticviolence, harassment and one othercharge Friday, Breckenridge policeconfirmed to the Summit Daily.Barson, 44, turned himself in to the

Summit County Jail on Friday morn-ing , the Breckenridge Police Depart-ment told the newspaper.Denver Post staff and wire reports

Evans cop shot in back, suspect in head9News anchor bitten by dogreturning to workMonday

CITY DESK: Kevin Vaughan News tips: 303-954-1201 Fax: 303-954-1369 E-mail: [email protected] Mail: Local News, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202

Contact The PostDelivery/SubscriptionsDenver Metro 303-832-3232Statewide 800-543-5543

Other Denver Post business phonenumbers and e-mail addresses can befound on Page 6B.

NewsroomEditor ..............................303-954-1400Editorial Page ...................303-954-1331Newsroom .......................303-954-1201Photo ..............................303-954-1321Outside metro area ...........800-336-7678

Share your news tips 303-954-1201

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Briefs

Dyer

Bratton

LOWERNORTH FORK FIRE

Sheriff, call firm feudAt issue is whether asoftware glitch stymiedresident notification.

ByKirk Mitchell The Denver Post

Jefferson County and a companythat warns people of imminent dan-ger are grappling over whether aglitch in the company’s softwarefailed to notify numerous peopleabout the Lower North Fork fire.The president of the warning ser-

vice, Louisiana-based First Call Net-work, also said of 1,089 calls thatwentto land lines, 957 were successful, in-cluding a call made to the home ofSamuel Lucas, 77, and his wife, Linda,76, who were killed as the fire sweptover their property.First Call president Matt Teague

said the relatively few instanceswhere emergency calls were notplayed to residents came about be-cause of problems such as phones be-ing disconnected and people hanging

up before the message played.He said that Jefferson County sher-

iff ’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley mis-takenly reported Thursday that 12percent of residents near the fire didnot receive the calls. He said the callswent out, but for a variety of reasonsnot related to his company’s software,messages were not fully played.Of those, residents hung up before

full notificationsweremade 36 times,32 calls were not answered, 90 callswere made to phone numbers thathave been disconnected and 12phones were busy.County officials disputed Teague.“We certainly don’t see eye to eye

on this,” said Mark Techmeyer,spokesman for the Jefferson CountySheriff ’s Office. “We know for a factthat homes did not receive a call thatshould have. It’s a substantial numberof people.”Techmeyer said Teague’s explana-

tion of those particular calls appearsto be accurate, but the county hasidentified numerous instanceswherepeople on the list did not receive calls.

The Sheriff ’s Office has several peo-ple tracking down what went wrong.“We’ve got to figure out what hap-

pened so we can fix the problem,” hesaid.He said that after the evacuations,

the Sheriff ’s Office received numer-ous calls from residents who shouldhave gotten the calls but didn’t.Whensheriff ’s workers checked their sto-ries, they determined that no callswere ever sent to those homes, con-firming what they said.“We believe it’s a software glitch,”

he said.Department employees are com-

paring a list of who received the callswith a list of people who actually gotcalls. It’s unclear exactly how manypeople did not get calls at this point.“There’s not a bigger thing going on

than getting to the bottom of this,”Techmeyer said. “If it’s not the soft-ware and it is our fault, we’ll say so.When we screw up, no one willscream louder than (Sheriff) TedMink.”Teague said other notification mis-

haps Monday had nothing to do withFirstCall software andwere the resultof human error.Sheriff Ted Mink said emergency

notificationswere initially sent out topeople throughout Jefferson Countywhohad signedup for e-mail and cell-phone emergency notifications in-stead of just to people in the affectedarea. Residents not in danger of thefire were flooding dispatch centers.First Call was formed in 1998 and

has between 150 and 200 clientsacross the country, from small com-munities to the state of Delaware.Teague said 88 percent notification

is a great percentage.“It’s way above average,” Teague

said.The Jefferson County Emergency

Communications Authority pays anannual fee of $60,000 to First Call tomaintain its notification system, saidJeff Irvin, executive director of theagency.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206or [email protected]

Evacuees allowed briefly back to homesByKristen Leigh Painterand Kieran NicholsonThe Denver Post

jefferson county»Asof Fri-day afternoon, crews hadachieved 70 percent containmenton the Lower North Fork fire.“The easiest part has been done

and thehardestpart remains,” Inci-dentCommanderRichHarveysaidduring an afternoon news confer-ence, warning that the weekendoutlookwasworsening.A total of 180 homes remained

evacuated, and the size of the blazeremained 4,140 acres.The residents who still can’t re-

turn home are able to go back un-der escort for a brief time to assessdamage and pick up crucial items.Theescorted trips areona “first-

come, first-served” basis, saidMarkTechmeyer, a JeffersonCoun-ty Sheriff’s Office spokesman.More than 30 property owners

went briefly to their homes Friday.Escortswill start up again at 8 a.m.today.Displaced residents who need

to get back in may call 720-454-4968 or 303-271-4930 to make anappointment.“Sometimes people just need to

see their home, theyneed the reas-surance,” Techmeyer said. “Andsome of them want to grab thingstheymay need.”TheTyus familywas escorted to

their home,which is still standing,on Elk Mountain Trail.To capitalize on their allotted 20

minutes at the property,momBet-syTyushad apieceof paper listingtheir valuables and necessaryitems by sections within thehouse.Tyus and her children—Rebec-

ca, 15, and John, 12 —were visitingDisneylandwhen the fire erupted.The family began receiving dis-

tressed calls from friends and fam-ilyMonday evening.“We were constantly on the

phone,” Betsy Tyus said. “To be inDisneyland and to get those twodifferent worlds — one full of funand excitement — at once was

odd.”Betsy’s brother-in-law and a

neighbor retrieved the family’spetsfor themandgot their horses to theJefferson County Fairgrounds,where all evacuees’ non-domesticanimals are being sheltered.“Whenwewere on the rides, I’d

forget. And then, we’d get off andremember, ‘Oh, yeah, there’s afire,” Rebecca Tyus said.Meanwhile, the Red Cross shel-

ter at West Jefferson MiddleSchool in Conifer is transitioningto a disaster-recovery headquar-ters.Therewill be no overnight stays

for evacuees at the school any lon-ger, but itwill remain open as a re-source center.

Britney Chambers squeezes into the back of a Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office squad car Friday with food andwa-ter for the deputies and firefighters working at the fire line. Chambers also was headed to her family’s home, whichis still in the evacuation area. Photos by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

Amessageon a rockoutside Co-nifer HighSchool onFriday ex-pressedgratitude tocrews work-ing to con-tain theLowerNorth Forkfire.

2B» DENVER & THE WEST saturday, march 31, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 66


THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012 sunny and breezy E70° F40° »22A B © the denver post B $1.00 price may vary outside metro denver 66

Online: From health care reform to wellness programs, get a daily dose of health news. »blogs.denverpost.com/healthdp

INSIDE Business » 11-14A | Comics » 5-7C | Lottery » 2A | Markets » 12A | Movies » 4C | Obituaries » 19A | Puzzles » 5-6C

ROCKIES SPRING TRAINING WRAP-UP » 1B

HIGHS• Pitcher Juan Nicasio’s comebackfrom a neck injury. C• Jamie Moyer makes the startingrotation at age 49.

LOWS• Outfielder Dexter Fowler hits

only .149.• Casey Blake, a third-base

candidate, is cut during camp.

AURORA SEESGARDEN ONHAVANA »11A

Genetics, father’s age may beclues to autism, three studiesindicate. »15A

“It’s blowing smoke right over myhouse,” Appel said, laughing nervouslyduring a 2:34 p.m. call to a dispatcherMarch 26.

Sam Lucas had called at 2:21 p.m. about awildfire at the foot of Cathedral Spires.

“We’ve got 79 mph winds and they’ve got acontrolled burn?”

“Yes,” a dispatcher responded.“Oh, wonderful,” he said. “Thank you.”Less than three hours later, calls warn-

ing residents to get out were issued.

Elk Creek Fire Chief Bill McLaughlinsaid Wednesday that the evacuation no-tice to residents of the Pleasant Parkneighborhood should have been made atleast an hour earlier, when it was clear thefire was being driven toward homes bywinds gusting to 80 mph.

But initially it was not his call.The Colorado State Forest Service had

called the Elk Creek fire department forassistance when the remnants of a con-trolled burn reignited in hot, windy condi-tions during Colorado’s driest month onrecord.

“In retrospect, we probably should havegotten the word out sooner,” McLaughlin

FIRE»9A

ByKirk Mitchell The Denver Post

conifer» The first call about a wildfire that would kill three peoplecame at 12:43 p.m., more than four hours before evacuation orderswere given to residents, officials now acknowledge.

Ann Appel and Sam Lucas, who were killed in the blaze along withLucas’ wife, Linda, called nearly three hours before the Lower NorthFork fire swept over their properties.

dp Online: More images,video andcoverage ofthe fire.»denverpost.com/extras

4-hour gap on fireLower North Fork evacuation order came long after first 911 call

ByMichael Booth The Denver Post

Colorado Medicaid officials and a private in-surer have quietly sought access to the state’sprescription drug registry to help stop doctor-shopping and pharmacy-hopping for pain pills,but a state board denied them.

The health care interests wanted access aspart of wider efforts to slow an epidemic ofpainkiller overdoses and opioid misuse, whichhas resulted in a doubling of Colorado deathsand addicts seeking treatment.

The state registry records every dispensedprescription for controlled substances, and al-

lows doctors and pharmacists to review drughistories for their patients.

The state Board of Pharmacy said the law al-lows access only to those providing direct careor dispensing direct prescriptions, and toldstate Medicaid and Rocky Mountain HealthPlans they could not conduct wider reviews.

“(Medicaid) had plans of looking for clientsseeking multiple providers for narcotics and pay-ing cash for duplicative prescriptions,” said Ra-chel Reiter, spokeswoman for the state health fi-nance department overseeing Medicaid.

“It would have been one more tool we wouldPRESCRIPTIONS»10A

State board deniesMedicaid and insurer access to Rx registry

By Tim Hooverand Sara Burnett The Denver Post

In a move likely to inflame parti-san tensions, Colorado Democratsplan to graft dead legislation allow-ing counties to mail ballots to439,560 “inactive voters” onto a res-urrected Republican bill.

House Republicans said SenateDemocrats were “hijacking” theHouse bill. But Democrats said theissue of allowing registered voterswho didn’t vote in the last electionto receive mail ballots was too im-portant to give up.

“If it’s going to be a fight, this isworth fighting over,” Sen. RollieHeath, D-Boulder, an organizer ofthe Democratic effort, said.

House Speaker Frank McNulty,R-Highlands Ranch, said he wassurprised by the Democratic move.

“I know that from time to timebills are hijacked for other purpos-es,” McNulty said. “It’s pretty ex-traordinary that Senate Democratswould resurrect a (Republican) billlike this. It is extraordinary thatthey would go to these efforts.”

The conflict is over legislation

INACTIVE»7A

Voter ID: Democrats shootdown putting bill on ballot. »6A

Elsewhere: Proposal makesMinnesota’s fall ballot. »6A

Joe Amon, The Denver Post Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

FIRING BACKRepublican front-runner

Mitt Romney callsPresident Barack

Obama’s criticisms of theGOP “rhetorical excess”

and “straw men that haveno basis in reality.”»16A

dp Archive: Previouscoverage of ScottGessler’s bid for electionsecurity.»denverpost.com/extras

FOXTON

ASPENPARK

KEN-CARYL

BAILEY

Prescribedburn

Destroyedstructures

South Platte River

Fireperimeter

THE FIRST CALL12:43 p.m. March 26, from13589 Callae Court:“I’m looking down toward Platte River Road. I think the prescribed burn down there is fired up again.”

Dispatcher asks if the caller is looking toward Aspen Park.

“No. I’m looking directly south of my house, down toward Platte River Road. It’s probably about 3 miles from me.”

Dispatcher asks if he’s seeing gray smoke.

“Whitish gray. It’s flat, going with the wind.”

Dispatcher says he’ll have the fire department check it out.

KIM OLSON,(HUSBAND DOUG GULICK PICTURED)call not time stamped,14186 Kuehster Road“We have a fire. We’ve got haze and smoke up at our property. We’ve been smelling it for half an hour. I called before and you guys said it was nothing. It wasn’t a prescribed fire, was it? If it’s prescribed, it’s way out of control.”

ANN APPEL2:34 p.m. fromBroadview Circle“It’s blowing smoke right over my house.”

SAM LUCAS2:21 p.m.,14409 Eagle Vista DriveLucas: “We just got home. It looks like there’s a fire right at the foot at Cathedral Spires.”(Dispatcher cuts him off, saying that he is seeing a controlled burn that flared up)

Lucas: “We’ve got 79 mph winds and they’ve got a controlled burn?”Dispatcher: “Yes.”Lucas: “Oh, wonderful. Thank you.”

WITHIN THEFIRE PERIMETER

4,140acres of burned land

27homes destroyed

6days to gain control

Sources: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office; Ann Appel photo courtesy of 9News The Denver Post

470

285

285

Kuehster Road

J E FFERSONCOUNT Y

DOUGL AS COUNT YPARK COUNT Y

Maparea

Denver

470

70

25

225

More dangerahead: Highwinds today andFriday whip upadditional wildfirewarnings. »9A

LEGISLATURE 2012

“Inactivevoter” billrevivedbyDemsGOP legislation is a vectorfor the measure that wouldensure mailing of ballots to439,560 potential voters.

In today’s Denver Post you’ll notice anew emphasis on local news and business.We’re putting the in-depth news that affectsColoradans up front with a brand-new Section A.

You’ll still find the very best in local culture andentertainment coverage, national and worldnews, opinion and commentary and theaward-winning sports coverage you’ve come toexpect every day from Colorado’s media leader.

The Denver Post FOCUSED ON COLORADO

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Red-flagwarning innorthwestBy Joey Bunch The Denver Post

Springwindswill blow across Colorado today,with the potential to whip up wildfires, authori-ties warnedWednesday.NorthwesternColoradowill be under a critical

“red flag” fire-danger warning from noon until 8p.m. today, with low humidity, steadywinds of 25mph and gusts up to 40mph, theNationalWeath-er Service said.“Any fire ignitionswill be very difficult to con-

trol with high rates of spread possible Thursdayafternoon and evening,” the Weather Servicewarned. “Simple agricultural burns will risk aloss of control.”All of the state, except for southeasternColora-

do, will be under a fire-weather watch, the pre-cursor to a red-flag warning, from Friday morn-ing to Friday night.Winds today and Friday will be pushed by a

mild cold front expected to reach the metro re-gion Friday night, keeping high temperatures inthe 60s this weekend, forecasters said.PitkinCountySheriff JoeDiSalvoand fire chiefs

from Aspen, Snowmass, Basalt and Carbondaleimposed a ban on outdoor fires Wednesday, join-ingBoulder, Jefferson,Douglas, Eagle,ClearCreekand Teller counties, as well as Denver MountainParks, which imposed bans last week. Gov. JohnHickenlooperhas suspended theuseofprescribedburns by the state after a Colorado State ForestService burn sparked last week’s Lower NorthFork fire, which charred 4,140 acres in JeffersonCounty, burned 27 homes and claimed three lives.Conditions will be comparatively mild in the

metro region. Denver should see wind gusts ofmore than 20mph today and Friday, according totheWeather Service.Spring is prone to fires in theWest as snowcov-

er melts, exposing dead, dry grass and brush.Along with low humidity, high winds, pushed bysporadic cold fronts, sweep from the mountainsto theplains.TheNational InteragencyCoordina-tion Center reported Wednesday that the RockyMountain region had 41 large fires last week.


COLORADO WILDFIRE OUTLOOK

state contactedMcLaughlin andhe relayed stateorders to the other crews. It was about 3 p.m.Intense winds were pushing 8- to 10-foot-high

flames, he said. Thewinds gusted up to 80mph.“Firefighters had to hide behind their trucks

to avoid being completely blown over. Theywere being pelted by embers as theywere stand-ing there,” McLaughlin said.By 4 p.m., he and North Fork Chief Curt Rog-

ers considered evacuations. Theymade the firstrequest for air tankers, McLaughlin said.“The fire was so intense, there was no way to

get the fire out at the head of the fire,” he said.“We were having whole branches breaking offand blowing away. That’ s pretty much a worst-case scenario.”The branches started hundreds of spot fires as

much as a half-mile away.Between 4:30 and 5 p.m.,McLaughlin notified

the Forest Service that he and Rogers were tak-ing control of the fire in a unified command.Evacuations began, and he ordered 25 fire addi-tional firetrucks. They moved the commandpost from behind the wildfire to Aspen Park.“In retrospect, they would agree they should

have taken a bigger-picture view and requestedevacuation,” McLaughlin said.But he added that the firemoved twice as fast

as they expected and faster than anywildfire hehad seen in 25 years of battling wildfires fromSan Diego to Alaska.“When the fire crested the hill into that neigh-

borhood, the flames were up to 100 feet in theair,” he said. “Itwas spreading 200 feet aminute.”

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206or [email protected];fire updates at twitter.com/kmitchelldp

FIRE:Radio signalmixup slowed crewssaid. “Hadwe taken charge of the fire sooner,wemay have made that call.”McLaughlin said the State Forest Service was

more focused on gaining control of the fire.But State Forest Service fire division supervi-

sor Rich Homann said firefighter and publicsafety is always the agency’s top priority.He saidhe could not comment further until an indepen-dent investigation ordered byGov. JohnHicken-looper is completed.McLaughlin said after he notified the Forest

Service incident commander that hewas takingcontrol of fighting the fire, he immediatelycalled for evacuations.JeffersonCountymade its firstwave of calls at

5:05 p.m., but the calls went to everyone in thecounty who had signed up for cellphone ande-mail notification. Dispatchers franticallyfielded dozens of calls frompeople fromArvadato Evergreen, explaining the “glitch.”The second series of emergency phone notifi-

cations went out at 5:23 p.m., said JeffersonCounty sheriff ’s spokesmanMark Techmeyer.McLaughlin saidhe first got acall fromacitizen

at 1:55 p.m. March 26 about a wildfire 6 milessouth of Conifer. However, the first 911 call wasmade at 12:43 p.m., Techmeyer said. It’s unclearwhether the Forest Servicewas notified first.While McLaughlin and a crew of three fire-

fighters were responding to the citizen call, thefire chief received another call from the ForestService, which had also called the North Forkand Inter-Canyon volunteer fire departmentsfor assistance.Initially it was a described as a 1-acre “slop

over”wildfire that had crossed theboundaries ofthecontrolledburnarea, he said. Sucha firecouldbe extinguished by a few truck crews, he said.McLaughlin, who moved from Washington

state and took the paid fire chief position in Feb-ruary, and his crew were delayed by about 15minutes because they had trouble finding theright road.“By the time we arrived, it had grown to 5

acres,” he said. TheForest Service incident com-mander was then calling it an “escaped” fire, amore urgent category.Another 15minuteswas lost after their arrival

because they were on different radio frequen-cies than the state and couldn’t find each other,McLaughlin said. The local crews couldn’t tunein to the Forest Service channel. Ultimately, the

«FROM 1A

Flames from the Lower North Fork fire, which flared upMarch 26 and took six days to getunder control, attack a ridge near Reynolds Park in Jefferson County. A veteran firefightersaid the flames moved faster than any wildfire he had seen. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

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Wildfire report finds lapsePersonnel didn’t patrola controlled burn, buteven a full crew couldn’thave halted its spread.

By Eric Gorski The Denver Post

Despite increasingly dire weatherforecasts, fire managers decidedagainst patrolling a controlled burnthe day before it jumped its contain-ment lines and exploded into the dead-ly Lower North Fork fire.But that violation of protocol — as

well as a lack of manpower on thegroundwhen the fire blew up— likelywould not have prevented the March26wildfire that killed three people anddestroyed 27 homes.William Bass of the U.S. Forest Ser-

vice, who headed a team that issued areport Monday with those findings,said even if the ground had been flat,four engines with full crews could nothave halted the fire.At the moment the prescribed fire

broke free, the crew on the site —which is steeply pitched in spots —comprised three people and a modi-fied all-terrain vehiclewith a 70-gallonwater tank, Bass said.The winds on the afternoon of

March 26 were so fierce — gusting to55 mph — one reviewer likened theconditions to those of the 1994 SouthCanyon Fire near Glenwood Springsthat killed 14 firefighters.Bass’ 152-page report, the first of sev-

FIRE»8A

DIALYSIS ALTERNATIVES

In-home, nighttreatments gainfavor withmanyByMichael Booth The Denver Post

The choices facing Robert Muellerranged from bad to worse.With his kidneys failing, Mueller

needed to begin the regimen that de-fines the lives of hundreds of thousandsof seriously ill Americans: sitting in achair three times aweek, four hours at atime, hooked to a machine cleaningdeadly toxins from their bodies.Typical daytime dialysis in one of

dozens of Colorado clinicswould haveforcedMueller, 57, to quit his day job asa Safeway checker.The solution arrives every Monday,

Wednesday and Friday night.

DIALYSIS»9A

Your health. Digging intodialysis-center data has beenmade easier by consumer-friendlyfiltering tools. »9A

2012 Pulitzer Prize: Feature Photography

Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post

“For his compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran,home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress,

images that enable viewers to better grasp a national issue.” The Pulitzer Prize Board

By Felisa Cardona The Denver Post

Aphoto essay of a combat veteran’s grueling read-justment to life in Colorado following two tours ofduty in Iraq earnedDenver Post photographerCraigF. Walker a Pulitzer Prize onMonday.It is the second time in three years Walker has

earned the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.The Pulitzers are considered journalism’s highesthonors, and Walker appears to be only the fourthentrant in the contest’s photography categories everto win a Pulitzer twice for solo work.

Walker’s first Pulitzer, in 2010,was for “Ian Fisher:American Soldier,” which documented a youngman’s progression from the life of a high school stu-dent to becoming a soldier in Iraq.This year’s prizewas forWalker’s gripping photo-

graphs of reconnaissance man Scott Ostrom, a 27-year-old combat veteran suffering fromsevere post-traumatic stress disorder.“It’s pretty amazing and very humbling,” Walker

said of winning two Pulitzers. “It is shocking andunbelievable and just hard to grasp.”

PULITZER»7A

Scott Ostrom is comforted by a friend during an argument with his girlfriend overthe phone. Sitting on the bed, he started crying. Ostrom says it has been hard tofind meaning in his life since 2007, when he was honorably discharged from the

U.S. Marine Corps. In today’s community of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, one infive suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Ostrom is one ofthem. Denver Post photographer Craig F. Walker spent 10 months with Ostrom andchronicled his story in a photo essay that appeared online and was honoredMondaywith the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. »see the photos at denverpost.com

WELCOMEHOME:THE STORYOF SCOTTOSTROM

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FIRE:Mild forecasts did not hold

eral planned reviews of the fireand its aftermath, was commis-sioned by Gov. John Hicken-looper andColorado StateUni-versity. CSUoversees theColo-rado State Forest Service,which planned and executedthe controlled burn.“Our goal is to make sure we

have all the facts and find outwhere the responsibility doeslie, and tomake surewe are tak-ing every opportunity to makesure this doesn’t happen again,”Hickenlooper said Monday.Hickenlooper andCSUpresi-

dent Tony Frank also have or-dered a review of the state’semergency response to wild-fires. Separately, the governorandmembers of the state’s con-gressional delegation are ask-ing the U.S. Forest Service for afederal review of the fire thatwould examine fire-suppres-sion efforts, evacuation proce-dures, communication betweenresponders and residents, andother issues.Monday’s report included a

handful of recommendations,including improving weatherinformation and fire-dangerrating systemsused in fire plan-ning, and strengthening stan-dards formopping upburns, es-pecially in the increasinglypopulated foothills.The review found the pre-

scribed fire was “well-pre-pared” and -executed— exceptfor the failure to patrol the siteMarch 25.Patrols are required for at

least three days after a pre-scribed burn and in this casewere conducted only two daysafterward, Bass said.Yet even if a crew were on

site that day, conditions werenot dangerous and hot spotswould have been permitted toburn, he said.The report judged that the

lack of patrols had a “neutral”impact on the fire’s escape, not-ing that a standard 200-footbarrier was in place and that itis “speculative” whether morepatrols would have led to more

«FROM 1A

mop-up.CSU spokesman Mike Hook-

er echoed that, saying fire per-sonnel decided Sunday patrolswere not needed based on theforecast for Sunday and the es-tablished control line aroundthe fire.Given Colorado’s unseason-

ably dryMarch,much attentionhas focused on the weather be-fore the state’s planned burn.Ignition day, March 22,

“looked like a really good go,”Bass said,with the forecast call-ing for cooling onMarch 25 and“moderate” winds the follow-ing day.But that forecast did not hold.

A red-flagwatch for potentiallyhazardous wildfire conditionsfor March 26 was issued at mi-dafternoon March 24. Anotherred-flag warning was issued at3:19 p.m. March 25.At about 1:15 p.m. March 26,

winds carried a stream of em-bers across the established 200-foot fire-control line.The three-person crew was

able to snuff out two resultingspot fires, but a third was be-yond their grasp and sparkedthe wildfire.The wind was so fierce, it re-

ignitedmaterial that had essen-tially been reduced to charcoal,

an extremely rare occurrence,Bass said.Hooker said fire personnel

thought the red-flag warningand the potential of a new firein an uncontained area posed agreater threat than the pre-scribed burn smoldering in acontained area.The report suggested looking

at widening containment linesfrom 200 feet to 300 feet insome cases.The prescribed fire, consid-

ered a key weapon in foresthealth, was primarily aimed atclearing out chewed-up piecesof ponderosa pine that hadbeen put on the forest floor sixyears earlier to reduce fire risk.Among the other recommen-

dations in the report Monday:• Consider using an outside

technical reviewer for morecomplex prescribed burns, par-ticularly those covering multi-ple jurisdictions.• Consider burning fuels cre-

ated by mechanical forest thin-ning and grinding separatelyfrom the natural fuels. Thatturned out to be a challenge inwhat ultimately became theLower North Fork fire.

Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971or [email protected]

Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, holds a news conferenceMon-day at the state Capitol on a state-commissioned report onthe controlled burn that led to the Lower North Fork fire lastmonth. Joining Hickenlooper areWilliam Bass, center, of theU.S. Forest Service and Colorado State University presidentTony Frank. Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post

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Online: Watch video, view images of shuttle Discovery’s final flight over Washington, D.C. »denverpost.com/extrasdp

NATION& WORLDSECRET SERVICETO UNDERGOINVESTIGATIONSecret Service directorMark Sullivan reportedlycalled for an independentinvestigation into anincident in which at least20 foreign women and asmany Secret Service andmilitary personnel met at ahotel in Colombia. »19A


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LOWER NORTH FORK FIRE

Report:Earlierblaze ared flagLast month’s tragedywas born in the samespot as an October fire.


On Oct. 13, as firefighters built ablackened line meant to contain a con-trolled burn, embers jumped a roadand sparked a small fire.

The crew had it contained within 10minutes, but it should have left a last-ing impression, according to the headof a team that reviewed what hap-pened: The topography made this apotential trouble spot when it cametime for the burn itself, especially ifwinds kicked up.

On March 26, four days after theburn was carried out, that same loca-tion was where the Lower North Forkfire was born.

That disclosure — made in a 152-page report released this week on theburn and its escape — raises addition-al questions about how the State For-est Service managed a forest-healthproject that became a devastatingwildfire that killed three people anddestroyed 27 homes.

FIRE»9A

PROPOSED CAMPING BAN

Few homelessto face arrest,police chief saysBy Jeremy P. Meyer The Denver Post

Denver police say they would proba-bly make few arrests under a proposedlaw that would forbid unauthorizedcamping in the city as a way to dealwith the increasing number of home-less people.

Instead, the homeless would beasked to move along or officers wouldconnect them with social services if itappeared they needed help.

“Our approach to this is passive,”said Denver Police Chief Robert Whiteat a City Council committee meetingTuesday to discuss the possible ordi-nance. “The last thing officers want todo is arrest someone for being home-less.”

BAN»12A

APRIL 18, 1942 | WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN

Sixteen B-25 bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornetto bomb Japan. Known as the Doolittle Raid, the attack raised

Americanmorale after the disaster of Pearl Harbor the previousDecember. Denver resident Russell Plybon, now 94, was a

24-year-old aircraft mechanic aboard the carrier.

“I stood right at the centerof the flight deck andwatched them take o≠.”

By Colleen O’Connor The Denver Post

Russell Plybon has a fuzzy memory. But there aresome things the 94-year-old World War II veteranwill never forget, such as the morning of April 18,1942, when the legendary Doolittle Raid on Tokyowas launched from the USS Hornet.

“I stood right at the center of the flight deck and watchedthem take off,” said Plybon, sitting in the living room of thehome he built in Denver’s University Hills neighborhood afterreturning from the war.

“Oneof thepilots forgot toputhis flapsdown,andwhenhewentoff the end of the ship, he sunk down. Everyone thought, ‘Well, hewent into the water.’ But pretty soon here, he come back up.”

Today is the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid, that dar-ing airstrike involving 80 airmen and 16 aircraft in World War IIthat took place four months after the Japanese attacked the na-val base at Pearl Harbor. Four of the five living Doolittle Raid-ers will attend a reunion ceremony at the National Museum ofthe U.S. Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio.

Plybon was a 24-year-old farm boy from Missouri who had en-listed in the Navy immediately after Pearl Harbor. He was trainedas an aircraft mechanic and assigned to the Bombing 8 squadron,where he worked on aircraft that included the Douglas SBD-3Dauntless dive bomber, which could carry 1,200 pounds of bombs.

DOOLITTLE»13A

Russell Plybon, who lives in south Den-ver, enlisted immediately after the attackon Pearl Harbor and fought at the BattlesofMidway and the Santa Cruz Islandsbefore being wounded. AAron Ontiveroz,The Denver Post; below, Associated Press file

Online. Twenty B-25 Mitchell bombersare flown to Dayton, Ohio, for the 70thanniversary of the raid.»denverpost.com/mediacenter

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FIRE: “Lessons learned” section of report highlighted area ofOct. blaze

The earlier spot fire “esca-lates concern about a location,”saidWilliam Bass, a U.S. ForestService supervisor inWyomingwho headed the review team.“If you’ve had an escape, even asmall one, it should be a watch-out for one on a larger scale.”Yet the Forest Service sent

only a three-person crew to pa-trol the perimeter of the 50-acreburn area on the day it jumpedthe line, even though a red-flagwarning had been issued theprevious afternoon.The firefighters on site were

busy with two other spot firesthat escaped elsewhere, the re-port said. By the time the inci-dent commander spotted heavysmoke near the site of theOcto-ber fire and found another oneburning there, his rigwas out ofwater.State Forest Service spokes-

manRyanLockwood saidTues-day the spot fire extinguished inOctober “did not indicate thatarea needed special attention.”He reiterated that the 200-

foot buffer built around thecontrolled-burn area is the in-dustry standard, and that therewas no indication at the timethat a broader line — or in-creased staffing—was needed.“It’s important to note that

specifically because of red-flagwarnings on theMonday the es-cape occurred, firefighters an-ticipated the potential need torespond to wildfires in thearea,” Lockwood said.The fact that the buffer was

well-established, he said,“made it prudent, without thebenefit of hindsight, to free upresources to respond to otherincidents.”This week’s report cited sev-

eral factors in the fire’s escape,including insufficient weatherand drought projections, un-burned vegetation, the failureof usually reliable tactics, andwinds that came fast andstrong.Bass said he thinks the crew

kept a close enough eye on thespot where the controlled burnescaped.“They were watching it all

the time,” he said. “But whenyou are actually out on the site,it’s hard to get up and down thearea.”In a section of the report ti-

tled “lessons learned,” bothpersonnel who worked the fireand the review team acknowl-edged that “an area that gaveyou a problemduring black-lin-ing” could be a problem later.The spot fire in October hap-

pened at a saddle — a little de-pression between two higherpoints — as crews were usingdrip torches to build a blackstrip stretching 50 feet.Fire has a tendency to march

uphill, Bass said, but a lowpointor dip like a saddle can be adangerous weak point, withgenerated heat creating a forcethat pushes flames forward andthrough.In this instance, fire person-

nel were there to stamp it outquickly.On March 22, the long-

planned prescribed burn wentoff as anticipated.Mop-up crews began their

work that night and continuedthe next day. Patrols on March24 found isolated fires smolder-ing in the unit.The burn boss and state dis-

trict forester decided not to pa-trolMarch 25, as required in theplan, reasoning that the fore-cast was favorable and the con-tainment lines would hold.Thenext day, under a red-flag

warning with winds forecastfor gusts of 50mph, a three-per-son crew returned to patrol.According to the review, they

found nothing alarming. Twoareas within the burn contin-ued to smolder. The lines hadheld.Between 12:40 p.m. and 12:50

p.m., winds picked up, fanninghot spots in the burn area andcausing smoke and embers thatlooked “like fleas” to land in theblack-lined area. Firefightersmopped it up.The next hour would prove

pivotal. On a run to a creek torefill their 70-gallon tank, theincident commander called foran additional engine — but didnot request additional firefight-ers.While he was gone, the two

other firefighters spotted twospot fires that had jumped theline and contained them.When

«FROM 1A their boss returned, they ex-hausted the just-replenishedwater supply.As winds grew stronger, the

commander grew concernedabout smoke around a site

called DP-5, about 1,500 feetaway.When he arrived, he found

another spot fire burning nextto the control lines of the firethat crews had snuffed five

months earlier.He drove up the road, called

for reinforcements and re-turned to the creek for morewater. By the time the engine hehad requested arrived, the spot

fire had grown to 1.5 acres. Andit couldn’t be tamed.

Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971or [email protected]

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ByMichael Booth The Denver Post

greeley»Hospital A bought a newhelicopter.Soon Hospital B, which already had

a helicopter, bought the ambulanceservice from the county in a no-bid,hush-hush deal.Hospital A, based in another city,

started building an emergency room inthe backyard of Hospital B.SoHospital B started building a sec-

ond emergency room for itself — 10blocks from Hospital A’s new emer-gency room. When completed, theywill be the fifth and sixth ERs in a 15-mile radius.Then Hospital B teamed with the

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HOSPITALS»19A

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ANATOMY OF A WILDFIRE LOWER NORTH FORK FIRE AMBUSHED OFFICIALS AND LEFT RESIDENTS SCRAMBLING FOR THEIR LIVES

“WEWEREN’TNOVICES.”

AndrewHoover built his home to survive fire, or so he thought. Like his fire-savvy neighbors, he was stunned bythe fire’s speed and the tardiness of evacuation orders. “I sort of understood that I might not make it out of thismess,” the presidential descendant said of being trapped by flames. »story, 16A Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post

By John Ingold and Kirk Mitchell The Denver Post

Outside the windows of Steve Foster’s pickup, Armageddonwas coming.A rampage of smoke—white and streaked with black— crested the ridge tohis left and bore down. ¶ It began blocking the sun, turning daylight totwilight. Glowing, tracer-bullet embers zipped by on the road behind him.He could hear the fury inside the charging plume, and it reminded him of ajet engine gaining thrust. ¶ 600 yards away. Now 500. 400.

“Therewas a sense of denial,” he said. “I said, ‘Hon-ey, I was down there. There were crews arriving. It’sgoing to be OK.’”He pauses.“How stupid.”What if you were in a race for your life, only you

didn’t know it?When disaster strikes, you often hear that it hap-

pens all at once— that there is no time to knowwhatis coming. But in the LowerNorth Fork fire, therewastime— hours of it. What there wasn’t was foresight.

»17A

Driving out of the neighborhood, Foster convincedhimself the fire would just scoot by. My house will beOK, he thought. My friends will be OK.But, behind him, three of his friends were dying in

what would come to be called the Lower North Forkfire. His neighbors’ houses were burning. Soon, hiswould be too.This was unimaginable just two hours before, when

he drove into the valley belowhis house to investigatea small fire that the firefighter on scene insisted wasmanageable. Back at home, Foster told his wife not toworry.

Mountain manhunt. Asuspect in a double slayingapparently shot himselfwhile holed up in hiscamouflaged andwell-stocked bunker. »4A

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A reassembling of the timeline forMarch 26, the day the fire ignited —pieced together from interviews, offi-cial documents and audio records —shows a repeated official underestima-tion of the fire’s severity.

Emergency dispatchers often toldresidents calling about smoke that itwas from a controlled burn started bythe Colorado State Forest Service theweek before, sometimes without add-ing that the burn had jumped contain-ment.

Fire officials waited to order evacua-tions until the blaze crossed a certainpoint in the terrain, not realizing howquickly it would gallop across thespace between that point and homes.Only 20 minutes before the fire begandestroying homes, one fire chief esti-mated it would be two hours untilstructures would be threatened.

When the evacuation order finallycame, it was too late for some. An en-tire neighborhood of families had tomake a flames-at-their-backs escape.

“We weren’t novices; we understoodfires,” said Andy Hoover, who wastrapped in his house as the fire thatkilled his neighbors Sam and Linda Lu-cas and Ann Appel raged outside. “Iguess I didn’t think about it because itwas a controlled burn and it was beingmonitored.

“We didn’t sense the alarm that pos-sibly we should have,” he said.

Recognizing the problems in the fireresponse, Gov. John Hickenlooper hasproposed consolidating fire and emer-gency management functions in a sin-gle state department to streamline thechain-of-command and quicken deci-sionmaking. Jefferson County authori-ties also have announced changes toevacuation procedures to give resi-dents earlier warning when danger islooming.

“We know that not every fire willgive us that opportunity,” JeffersonCounty sheriff ’s spokeswoman JackiKelley said. “There was that opportu-nity in the Lower North Fork fire.”

A community on alertWhoever named the neighborhood

Pleasant Park knew what he was talk-ing about. Sitting atop a ridgeline atabout 8,000 feet, it looks down across agrand sweep of valleys and hills.Homes are spaced leisurely along theridge, their big windows soaking in theviews.

The focal point of the communityalong Kuehster Road — pronounced“Custer” by locals — was a red, single-room schoolhouse built in 1920. Fosterand his neighbors worked to restorethe schoolhouse, making it into a gath-ering spot for the Sampson Communi-ty Club.

One Fourth of July, Foster said,neighbors met outside the school for acookout. But then the clouds grewdark and the winds blew up. When rainbegan to fall, the neighbors scamperedinto Foster’s house a few yards away.And the party continued.

“I’m out there firing up my big grill,getting pelted by hail and cooking up40 to 50 hamburgers and just having agreat time,” Foster remembers.

As soon as residents spotted smokeon March 26, at the site of a state-setcontrolled burn conducted days be-fore, they began calling each other toshare what they knew. Then theycalled 911.

Sam Lucas, who lived next toHoover, was one of the first, at about2:20 p.m.

“The Forest Service is out there,” thedispatcher said.

Fifteen minutes later, Ann Appelcalled.

“They’ve got crews on the way,” thedispatcher answered.

At another point, a dispatcher told aresident that the fire is, “a controlledburn that slightly got out of control.”

It was 5 acres then, according to aninvestigative report. Firefighters hadno containment, and the winds had be-gun to gust. Within an hour, windswere blowing at a steady 20 mph.

Evacuations put on holdOnce on scene, dispatch records and

official reports show that firefightersordered an increasing amount of re-sources to combat the growing blaze.The wind blew so hard that firefight-ers could barely keep their helmets on,according to statements made to a Jef-ferson County sheriff ’s investigator.Golf-ball-size embers flew aroundthem.

About 3:30 p.m., the fire chiefs onscene decided to wait to order evacua-tions until the flames crossed a naturaldrainage point in the valley belowKuehster Road. The fire was about 10to 15 acres in size but growing quickly.

It took another hour for the fire tocross that drainage, right around thetime Eddie Schneider pulled into hisdriveway on the ridge above after hur-rying home when he saw smoke during

«FROM 1A

a round of golf.Schneider had called 911 the week

before after seeing smoke from thecontrolled burn. This time, he called911 again and said he was told no evac-uations were in place.

“Down there,” Schneider said, “theyknew they had a problem. But theyweren’t going to tell anybody becausethen they were in trouble.”

Meanwhile, Inter-Canyon firefighterDave Brutout was driving up and downKuehster Road urging residents toleave, even though an official orderwas still several minutes away. Thewinds were roaring atop the ridge, asustained 60 mph, Brutout told inves-tigators, according to a report. Hecouldn’t hold his helmet on his head.

Brutout said he spoke with Sam Lu-cas, who said he was packed up butwanted to turn on his home’s fire-sup-pression system before leaving. Brut-out tried to talk to Appel. But therewas a chain across her driveway, andhe moved on. By the time the firefight-er reached Schneider’s house —Schneider estimated it to be about 5p.m. — the moment to evacuate safelyhad already passed, unbeknown to ev-eryone.

Down below, the first formal requestfor evacuations came at 4:41 p.m., ac-

cording to an investigative report. Theemergency notification system, whicha glitch prevented from going to allresidents in the evacuation zone, camejust after 5 p.m. At 5:12, North Fork FireChief Curt Rogers estimated the blazewould reach the homes above withintwo hours, according to the report.

It reached Andy Hoover’s back doorin 13 minutes.

Hoover was racing around in hishome, pulling furniture away fromwindows, when the light outside wentblack. Then, his windows glowed or-ange. Heat filled the home. Flameswere lapping at his house, and therewas no place for him to go.

“I could just feel radiated heat,”Hoover said. “It was just like in front ofan open oven.”

“I sort of understood that I might notmake it out of this mess.”

Down the road, Eddie Schneider washaving the same thought.

He and his wife had left their houseabout 5:15 p.m. — less than 15 minutesafter receiving the evacuation call —but went back to get one last thing.Leaving again, the fire closed aroundthem.

Smoke enveloped their vehicle. Theonly way Schneider could see where hewas going was to look down at the ditch

beside the road and make sure not todrive into it. Embers flew by. Trees litup like torches beside the road.

His neighbors — Kim Olson andDoug Gulick, who videotaped their es-cape — were just in front of him tostart. Foster was a couple minutes upahead.

“You had to leave with the clothes onyour back, and that was it,” Schneidersaid.

Schneider and his wife drove anx-iously until they burst out of the plumeand into the sunlight.

Meanwhile, Hoover was desperatelyfighting to save his house. The front offlames outside the home had passed,but a residual fire burned on his deck.The inner panes of windows were bro-ken.

He called his wife, Jeanie.“I don’t know what the hell’s going

on,” he said, “but there’s sparks every-where; there are flames; it’s hot.”

He tried to douse the deck fire, but itwas too hot outside. The power wasout. He went down to the garage,climbed into his pickup and smashedstraight through the garage door.

Outside, he drove until he found asafe spot in an open area and watchedas his house burned.

“I think I’m going to hang out here

until I know a better idea,” he told adispatcher in a 911 call. “It seems like adumb idea to move.”

A long way from closureThere are multiple ongoing investi-

gations into the causes of the LowerNorth Fork fire and the response to it.

Exactly when the fire reached AnnAppel’s and the Lucases’ homes hasnot been determined, nor have theircauses of death. Throughout the day,neighbors had been in regular contactwith the three. Appel and the Lucaseshad said as late as 5 p.m. that they wereon the verge of evacuating.

That they didn’t survive the pan-icked escape that their neighbors didhas only stirred the community’s an-ger over the fire. Elk Creek Fire ChiefBill McLaughlin’s admission that evac-uations should have come at least anhour earlier hasn’t soothed, either.

Instead, residents say they hope offi-cials will be held accountable, thatamends will be made. Only that — andtime — can piece the community backtogether.

“I still have a nice view, for 70 milesaround,” said Schneider, whose housewas the only on his street to survive.“But when I look down, I’m living in alittle piece of hell. It’s black. And thatwill take a while.”

John Ingold: 303-954-1068 [email protected]

Source: Jefferson County sheriff’s investigative report and Denver Post interviews

1:40 p.m. – Colorado StateForest Service reports a“slop over” fire in the LowerNorth Fork controlled burnarea.

1:50 p.m. – Fire estimated at1.5 acres.

2:12 p.m. – Jefferson Countydispatch broadcasts that fireis 1 acre with low spreadpotential.

2:28 p.m. – North Fork FireDepartment Chief CurtRogers reports fire is now 5acres and requests more firecrews.

3:34 p.m. - Fire estimated at10 to 15 acres.

4:41 p.m. – Fire crosses keydrainage, prompting officialsto begin evacuation order.

5:01 p.m. – Fire estimated atover 100 acres and growing.

5:02 p.m. – Jefferson Countydispatch sends outemergency evacuation order.

5:12 p.m. – Rogers estimatesstructures will be threatenedwithin two hours.

5:25 p.m. – Andy Hooversays flames reached hishouse on Eagle Vista Drive.

5:32 p.m. – Firefightersreport that homes areburning on the south end ofKuehster Road.

5:47 p.m. – Firefightersreport that the head of thefire is south of theintersection of Elk Ridge andKuehster Road.

6:35 p.m. - Firefightersreport homes are burning onRocky Top Trail.

6:43 p.m. – Andy Hoovercalls 911 to report his houseis in flames.

8:17 p.m. – Firefightersdetermine Ann Appel’s homeon Broadview Circle is atotal loss.

8:33 p.m. – Firefighters findLinda Lucas’ body and reportthe couple’s home on EagleVista Drive is a total loss.

The information listed above was derived from various sources to assist with determining the spread of the fire. The times obtained during witness interviews are approximated.

Crown fire A running crown fire, which jumps from treetop to treetop, sped the fire’s growth as winds spewed golf-ball size embers.

Getting out of handAs the Lower North Fork fire erupted March 26, officials repeatedly underestimated the severity of the fire. Residents say that gave them a false sense of security. By the time the order to evacuate came, it was only minutes before flames roared up to their homes.

Where bodies were found

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Winds gusting to 80 mph rapidly pushed flames uphill toward homes. The fire moved both by racing along the ground in grass and pine needles and by jumping from tree to tree in more densely forested areas. Embers blew hundreds of feet in front of the fire, igniting new fires in spots dried out by wind and heat.

1:40 p.m., the ColoradoState Forest Serviceidentifies the “slop over” and at 1:50 p.m.estimates the size of the fire to be approximately 1.5 acres. Responding units from the Elk Creek and North Fork fire departments are advised that the fire is 1 acre with a low spread potential.

A

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2:28 p.m., NFFD Chief Curt Rogers reports the fire has spread to 5 acres.

B 5:01 p.m., Rogers reports the fire is at 100-plus acres and has transitioned to a running crown fire.

D An Inter-Canyon firefighter positioned on Kuehster Road reports at 5:32 p.m., “losing structures” south of Broadview Circle. The fire then travels northwest along Kuehster.

E 6:35 p.m.Inter-Canyon firefighters report structures on Rocky Top Trail are fully involved in fire. The fire continues northwest, along Kuehster Road, with some spot fires on the north side of the road.

FThe next estimate on the spread of the fire comes at 3:34 p.m., when Rogers reports the fire is at 10 to 15 acres.

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Flames leap above a ridge on the eastern edge of the Lower North Fork fire onMarch 26. Fueled by high winds, the fire raced past firefighters with sur-prising speed, eventually killing three people. A fire official said evacuation orders should have beenmade earlier. Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file

“I could just feel radiated heat.It was just like in front of an open oven.”

dp Online. Previous coverage of the Lower North Fork fire, including video of residentsfleeing the blaze and photo galleries of the scene. »denverpost.com/extras

6 the denver post B denverpost.com B sunday, april 29, 2012 NEWS «17A


THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012 chance of storms E81° F57° »22A B © the denver post B $1 price may vary outside metro denver 66

In memoriam: Reporter Colleen O’Connor remembers literary icon Ray Bradbury. »blogs.denverpost.com/artmospheredp

DENVER &THE WESTNO REGRETS FORINTERROGATIONU.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn says hedoes not believe that anyoneshould apologize to an activistwho was questioned by policeabout child pornography aftershe brought a professionalphoto of a child taking a bathin polluted water to acongressional hearing. »4A


OBITUARIES

ICONIC SCI-FI WRITERRayBradbury, left, wrote classics “Fahrenheit 451,” “Something

Wicked This Way Comes” and “The Martian Chronicles.” » 19A

BevBledsoe served a record-setting 10 yearsas speaker of the Colorado House. » 4A

COLO. SKIERVISITS FALL9.8 PERCENT»business, 11A

Comics guru weighs in onsuperheroes, life lessons »1C

I NVESTIGATION OF CSAP TESTS

Principal out over cheatingBeach Court: 2 years of results tossedas administrators likely changed answers

Hallett: “Technical errors” in how testswere handled, but no sign of wrongdoing

ByKaren Augé The Denver Post

Cheating on standardized tests wasdeliberate, spanned all grades thatwere tested and was likely carried outby administrators at Beach Court Ele-mentary in northwest Denver, investi-gators announced Wednesday. Theirreport also cleared a second school ofwrongdoing.

As a result of the investigation, all ofBeach Court’s 2010 and 2011 CSAPscores have been invalidated, the stateDepartment of Education announced.

The state report concluded that“testing violations occurred at thePrincipal-level at Beach Court duringthe 2010 and 2011 CSAPs.”

Beach Court principal Frank Roti,who had been the district’s shining ex-ample of a school leader who lifted dis-advantaged students to unparalleledachievement, has been fired.

Denver Public Schools Superinten-dent Tom Boasberg said Roti has beenasked to return thousands of dollars inbonuses he received as a reward forthe school’s stellar performance onCSAP tests. Roti could not be reachedfor comment Wednesday.

Boasberg said the investigation find-ings “clearly show that no teachers atBeach Court were involved in alteringtests.”

Last month, DPS asked the state toconduct an independent audit of testscores at Beach Court Elementary andHallett Fundamental Academy — andto look into isolated scoring anomaliesat three other unnamed DPS schools.That request followed the district’sown intensive review, and an initialconsultation with the Department of

CSAP»6A

FIGHT FIREWITH FIREPrescribed blazes and thinning haven’t worked, so commandersincreasingly favor — if people aren’t at risk — letting forests burn

ANALYSIS

Secrecy,leaks stirquandaryfor U.S.By Scott Shane The New York Times

washington» In recent years, theUnited States has pioneered the use oftwo innovative weapons, drones andcyberattacks, that by many accountshave devastated al-Qaeda and set backIran’s nuclear effort.

Now those programs are at the heartofabipartisan dispute oversecrecy,withcongressional Republicans accusing theObama administration of leaking classi-fied information for political advantageand Democrats lodging their own pro-tests about high-level disclosures.

Prompted in part by recent articles inThe New York Times on the use ofdrones to carry out targeted killings andthe deployment of the Stuxnet comput-er worm against the Iranian nuclear pro-gram, the Republican and Democraticleaders of the House and Senate intelli-gence committees issued a joint state-ment Wednesday urging the administra-tion “to fully, fairly and impartially in-vestigate” the disclosures and vowinglegislation to crack down on leaks.

“Each disclosure puts American livesat risk, makes it more difficult to recruitassets, strains the trust of our partnersand threatens imminent and irreparabledamage to our national security,” saidthe statement, a rare show of unity.

The protest focused on the dangers ofleaks that the congressional leaders saidwould alert adversaries to U.S. tactics.But secrecy, too, has a cost — one that isparticularly striking in the case ofdrones and cyberattacks. Both weaponsraise pressing legal, moral and strategicquestions of the kind that, in a democra-

SECRECY»7A Tom Pryor, crew leader for the Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps, makes final cuts beforefelling a large, dead tree. The crew was performing fire-mitigation work in and around Brainard Lake,near Ward. At top, smoke rises from the 2002 Hayman fire, which burned 214 square miles in Park,Teller, Jefferson and Douglas counties. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post; Craig F. Walker, Denver Post file (top)

By Bruce Finley The Denver Post

Adecade-long move toward prescribed fires and forest-thinning has not reduced the risk of cata-strophic wildfires along the Front Range, federal and state authorities say.

And firefighting commanders increasingly favor letting more forests burn — if people aren’tthreatened — instead of mounting all-out assaults. They say it’s smarter to let some fires burnnaturally because this can help prevent huge fires that ruin forest seed stocks and watersheds.

“We haven’t even begun to see the worst ofthe worst,” said Ken Kerr, the Bureau of LandManagement’s senior officer in the federalcommand center west of Denver. “Until westart finding ways to treat more forests toavoid the catastrophic conflagrations, we’regoing to have problems. We can either paynow or we can pay much more later.”

The problem is that enormous, super-hotwildfires — epitomized by the Hayman fire of2002, which ravaged 214 square miles in Park,Teller, Jefferson and Douglas counties — flareup more frequently to correct the imbalancescaused by disruption of natural fire cycles.Human suppression of wildfires since the

FIRE»9A

THE HAYMAN FIRE | 10 YEARS LATER

Coming Friday. Residents reflect on how the Hayman fire affected them.

BID TO HELP SMALL BIZ

Denver-backed“cashmob” payscall on book shopBy John Mossman The Denver Post

Take the flash-mob phenomenon,give it a financial spin, and you have a“cash mob” — in which civic-mindedcitizens use social media to organizespontaneous visits by paying custom-ers to small, local businesses.

Cash mobs, in which participants aretypically asked to spend $20 or more atthe selected business, began sweepingthe country last year. Most are grass-roots efforts, but the movement re-cently gained civic backing when thecity of Denver helped organize onesuch effort.

Denver’s Office of Economic Devel-opment last month launched a cashmob to help celebrate National SmallBusiness Week.

“There have been others in Denver,mostly through grassroots groups,”said Office of Economic Developmentspokesman Derek Woodbury. “Somechambers of commerce in other citieshave done it, but not governments.”

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FIRE: Risk of catastrophic blaze remains higher than ever1860s has created overly denseforests ready to burn.

Despite the shift toward“treating” forests proactivelywith prescribed fires and me-chanical thinning, federal datashow that the number and sizeof wildfires are growing.

Colorado’s 30 largest wild-fires on record broke out after1996, with 77 percent after 2002,the data show. The 397,607acres burned in wildfires since2008 are more than double the167,608 acres burned during theprevious four years. A stateanalysis found that the numberof fires reported each year hastripled since the 1990s.Drought, beetle-killed pinetrees and people in forests en-able easier ignition.

Federal and state agenciesmust suppress wildfires thatthreaten people and property.U.S. taxpayers have devoted asmuch as $1.9 billion a year tosnuff wildfires. In a single re-cent season, air tankersdropped more than 420,000gallons of fire-retardant on Col-orado wildfires.

A recipe for bigger firesYet each suppressed fire sets

up bigger fires in the future.“We’d like to see more re-

sources devoted to a proactiveapproach — forest thinning andappropriate prescribed fires asa management tool,” said depu-ty chief forester Joe Duda of theColorado State Forest Service.“You’re forced into doing sup-pression because you have toreact to fires where there’sproperty and watershed atrisk.”

Colorado’s shift to forestthinning and prescribed fireswas just beginning when U.S.Forest Service employee TerryBarton ignited the Hayman onJune 8, 2002.

Federal agencies were devel-oping a first “national fire plan”that recognized wildfires’ rolein keeping forests healthy.

The unprecedented 2002 fireseason that included the Hay-man — which destroyed 600buildings and darkened skiesfrom Vail to Burlington —spurred this shift.

Since then, the amount spentannually on forest thinning andprescribed fires in Coloradohas increased to $28.9 millionlast year from $18.3 million in2001, according to data provid-ed by Paul Langowski, ForestService regional chief for fuelsand fire ecology.

The number of prescribedfires increased to 236 last yearfrom 73 in 2002. Forest crewslast year treated nearly 50,000acres statewide by thinning orprescribed fires, up from 32,525acres in 2001.

But the risk of catastrophicwildfire remains higher thanever along the Front Range.

For lack of funds, Langowskisaid, forest-fuels reductioncrews prioritize “interface” ar-eas where communities abutpublic forests. In Colorado,there are 94,739 residencesbuilt on 2,000 square miles ofprivate land that is next to for-ests, a Headwaters Economicsanalysis found.

Suppression dominatesMeanwhile, suppression still

dominates Colorado’s overallapproach to wildfire. Firefight-ers since 2002 have extin-guished 15,809 fires 100 acresand bigger statewide, limitingthe area burned to about 1.5 mil-lion acres, National Interagen-cy Fire Center records show.The annual cost of putting outwildfires, most of them in theWest, exceeds $1 billion. Nearly$11 billion was spent since 2002to stop wildfires.

All this leaves fire managersin the federal command centeron edge as they monitor a wid-ening Western drought, 354square miles burning in NewMexico’s Gila wilderness andthe potential for explosivebreakouts in the urban-wild-land interface.

The prospect of hundreds ofnew homes and shops meanseven more suppression mayhave to be done. While insurersincreasingly require use of non-flammable roof materials andclearing of “defensible spaces,”the availability of insurance al-lows development. If homesburn, they can be rebuilt.

“We’re just coddling and en-

«FROM 1A abling people as long as we al-low them to keep building inthis situation,” said Bill Ott, theU.S. Forest Service operationsdirector in the center.

Meanwhile, community re-sistance to prescribed fire —which costs far less than manu-ally thinning forests usingchain-saws and heavy machin-ery — complicates efforts to re-duce forest fuels.

On March 22, a 50-acre pre-scribed fire southwest of metroDenver was part of the foresttreatment push — and it es-caped. Winds whipped theblaze out of control, creatingthe 4,140-acre Lower NorthFork fire, which killed threeresidents at their homes. Gov.John Hickenlooper initiallybanned all prescribed fires. Helater ordered state public safetyofficials to take charge of con-trolled burns by the Colorado

State Forest Service.People living in and around

forests now must deal withworsening threats in many ar-eas. Some see the bone-dry,beetle-killed pines and worryabout how they’d escape.

Those who experienced thedestruction of the Hayman andother big fires also are graspingthe slowness of recovery whenforests are essentially steril-ized, said Carol Ekarius, direc-tor of the Coalition for the Up-per South Platte.

Natural healing processCoalition volunteers are toil-

ing to try to accelerate naturalhealing processes on the Hay-man burn area. They’ve plantednearly 1 million trees and seed-ed 17,000 acres where pondero-sa seeds were ruined.

And still they see barrenmountainsides eroding, chok-

ing off streams, Ekarius said.“If we had had fires that were

the historic kind in these pon-derosa forests, it would not takethis long to regenerate. The for-est ecosystem was so out of kil-ter,” she said. “It’ll be a lotcheaper for us to treat, to re-duce the threat and the intensi-ty of fire.

“Hayman was a very large,very hot fire that burned onhighly erosive soils. When youadd very large, very hot andvery erosive together, you get afire that takes a very long timeto heal.”

In the end, natural fire cyclesmay be reasserting themselvesfaster than people can reduceforest fuels.

The trend toward larger,more-destructive wildfires hasforced firefighting command-ers to adjust tactics, Ott of theForest Service said. “We’re go-

ing to ‘point protection’ ratherthan the massive response,” hesaid, referring to the position-ing of firefighters aroundhomes and property rather thandirectly attacking big flames.

Classification systemFederal land managers also

changed their classificationsystem for wildfires in 2009 sothat a single fire no longer mustbe designated only as a fire thatcan be allowed to burn or a firethat must be suppressed. Thenew system lets fire managersattack one part of a wildfire thatthreatens people while moreeasily letting other parts of thatsame wildfire burn.

For example, federal manag-ers last month merely moni-tored the lightning-sparked Lit-tle Sand fire in wildernessnorth of Durango. But whenwind patterns changed, driving

the fire toward the second oftwo concentric circles on theirmap, commanders called in airtankers and ground crews to tryto guide the wildfire away frompeople and private propertynear Pagosa Springs.

Nobody is willing to risk fire-fighters’ lives on the big fires,Kerr said. A dozen or so fire-fighters still die each year de-spite stricter safety protocols.One was incinerated whenflames engulfed his vehicle oninitial attack on the Coal Canyonfire in South Dakota in August.

“We’ve come to the realiza-tion that losing a house, losingsome trees, is not worth losingsome kid’s life,” Kerr said. “Weare evaluating the risks.”

Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700,twitter.com/finleybruce [email protected]

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REVERSE 911 CALLS

FlawshinderalertsOfficials struggle withdata glitches and homesthat rely on cellphones.

By Eric Gorskiand Jennifer BrownThe Denver Post

Emergency alert systems designed towarn Coloradans about wildfires, gun-men on the loose and other dangers arefull of holes — limited by flawed data,human error and spotty efforts to getresidents without telephone land linesto register their cellphone numbers.

The Lower North Fork fire in Marchwas a tragic example of how alertssometimes don’t work as planned. Astill-unknown number of JeffersonCounty households failed to get warn-ing calls because of a data glitch.

CALLS»20A

DENVER &THE WESTTWO SIDES OFPRINCIPAL HARDTO RECONCILEIt’s hard to reconcile theman Beach CourtElementary families sayknew all his students byname with investigators’depiction of Frank Rotisitting alone in his officewith an eraser and a penciland secretly doctoring theanswers to hundreds ofCSAP tests. »1B

By Claire Martin, Photo By Joe Amon The Denver Post

There was a brief pause on the other end when therapist Kevin Bert answered the phoneat Synergy, a Denver substance-abuse treatment program for adolescents. ¶ Did Synergytake on heroin addicts who were under age 18? What if the addicts didn’t have any money?¶ The caller was Trevor McCorkle, a rangy, restless 17-year-old. He and his brother, Jar-rod, one year younger, were living at a makeshift campground near a Safeway store in Ev-ergreen. Both were addicted to heroin. They wanted to stop and needed help. It was earlyApril 2010. ¶ Bert was stunned. Come over today, he told Trevor. Then he called his super-visor, Elizabeth Whitmore. You won’t believe this, he told her. We just got a call from twoteenagers who want to get into methadone treatment.

HEROIN»18A

addictionEscaping

Trevor McCorkle, left, sipping his daily dose of methadone, and hisyounger brother, Jarrod, represent a disturbing demographic trend:Heroin use is on the rise, and users are getting younger.

ARTS &CULTURE

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FIRE FLARESIN LARIMER

A fast-spreading wildfire westof Fort Collins on Saturdayquickly grew from 2 acres to5,000 acres. “This is the fire wealways worried we might have,”Larimer County Sheriff JustinSmith said. »1B

Karl Gehring, The Denver Post

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The wildfire killed three people, in-cluding one woman who should havereceived a call to evacuate but did not.As a result of the breakdown, JeffersonCounty’s 911 agency is preparing toseek bids for improving its system,which officials said could include re-placing its current provider, FirstCallNetwork Inc.

A closer look at 911 reverse-dialingacross the Front Range found a truepatchwork, with thousands of discon-nected or no-longer-in-service phonenumbers in databases that are updatedevery few months.

Emergency authorities acknowledgethey could improve by taking more con-trol from private companies to run theirsystems, updating phone numbers morefrequently or sending postcards to resi-dents urging them to sign up their cell-phone numbers. Still, they said, mass-dialing systems are unlikely to everreach everyone in a danger zone.

A typical success rate for emergencymass-dialing is about 50 percent ofnumbers dialed, meaning it’s likelythousands of people are missed, ac-cording to a Denver Post review ofhundreds of pages of reports releasedby emergency communications agen-cies through the Colorado Open Re-cords Act.

In Pueblo, for example, calls madeby the notification system reachedfewer than half of the 47 householdsauthorities wanted to warn last Augustabout a SWAT operation involving abarricaded suspect. Six of the numberswere for fax machines.

An El Paso County report shows au-thorities were able to confirm reach-ing 452 people out of 3,869 they weretrying to alert about a missing childlast October. A vast majority of thecalls went to voice mail, so it’s possiblethose residents eventually heard thewarning. But 715 of the numbers wereinvalid, and 751 rang with no answer.

In Larimer County, however, discon-nected numbers are not an issue be-cause officials continually updatetheir data and take charge of some re-sponsibilities that other agencies farmout. Still, even though the system doesnot dial disconnected numbers, Larim-er County officials acknowledge thatthere are many homes for which theyhave no accurate number.

“There is no magic bullet,” said Nel-son Daza, senior manager of productinnovation for Glendale, Calif.-basedemergency alert provider Everbridge,part of a growing $650-million-a-yearindustry. “There is no jurisdiction inthis country that can tell you, ‘We haveevery phone number for every entity

«FROM 1A

and person, and we’ll be able to send amessage to everybody in our areasshould something happen.’ ”

The systems are only as good astheir data. And in a wireless society,emergency authorities are frustratedthat privacy laws and other logistics,such as cellphone owners not neces-sarily being anywhere near theirhome address, mean that wirelessphone companies don’t share theirdatabases.

Reverse-dialing warning systemsaren’t capable of sending alerts —calls, texts or e-mails — to cellphonesunless a person registers the numberwith the county’s emergency manage-ment office. This has been slow tocatch on across Colorado, even as

more people cancel their land lines infavor of using mobile phones only.

Of 525,000 adults in El Paso and Tell-er counties, about 13,000 have regis-tered their cellphones to receive emer-gency alerts. And in Boulder County,home to 225,000 adults, just 12,925 haveregistered their mobiles, according tocounty officials. In Pueblo County,adult population 119,000, 717 peoplehave registered cellphone numbers.

“Seven-hundred-seventeen is a lownumber,” said Tim Nawrocki, commu-nications manager for the PuebloCounty Sheriff ’s Office. “And in thisday and age, everybody has got cell-phones.”

A federal program that began rollingout in April will make it possible for lo-

cal authorities to send a message to theFederal Emergency ManagementAgency, which will then send alerts tomobile phones in the target area fromnearby cell towers. The joint programof FEMA and the Federal Communica-tions Commission works on most cell-phones, but cooperation between fed-eral and local emergency officials hasnot yet been established, said Brian Jo-sef, director of regulatory affairs forCTIA-The Wireless Association.

Most large-scale 911 reverse-call sys-tems are managed by county-based 911authorities who work with severalpublic safety agencies, from big sher-iff ’s offices to tiny rural volunteer firedepartments.

The 911 agencies have contracts to

obtain numbers and addresses fromland lines and Internet-based phoneservices.

The phone and address informationis then geo-coded — taking the ad-dress and assigning latitude and longi-tude — and placed into mapping sys-tems. Depending on the jurisdiction,cellphone, e-mail and other informa-tion volunteered by citizens is includ-ed.

How often that information is updat-ed varies. The land-line phone numberdatabase for El Paso and Teller coun-ties is updated four times each yearwith information from Comcast andCenturyLink; the county’s cellphonedatabase updates nightly.

CALLS » 21A

A typical success rate for emergencyof numbers dialed,meaning it’s

Fire dispatcher Trey Lewis answers a call at the Adams County 911 office in Commerce City. County officials were surprised last fall when nearly three in10 calls in its first activation of a new emergency alert system last fall did not get delivered because of disconnected phone numbers. ADCOM911 directorBill Malone said there is no way of knowing more about those numbers because phone carriers guard that information. Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post

EMERGENCY-NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

Jeffco officials looking to solicit bids for another company to handle evacuation callsThe county and FirstCall disagree on how severalhomes in the path of a recent fire were overlooked.


golden» Jefferson County officialsare moving to overhaul their emergen-cy-notification system after severalhomes in the path of the deadly LowerNorth Fork fire did not receive evacua-tion calls.

Although details are still beingworked out, the Jefferson CountyEmergency Communications Authori-ty hopes to put the project out to bid by

the end of this month, said executivedirector Jeff Irvin.

When evacuation orders went to900 homes in unincorporated Jeffer-son County, homes with Morrison ad-dresses were wrongly plotted in thecenter of the town of Morrison and didnot get alerted, Irvin said.

He said the glitch impacted 95 homesin the county, but not all were in the firezone. Irvin said he believes a muchsmaller number failed to get the call but

does not know the specific number.Among those never alerted was 51-

year-old Ann Appel, who, worriedabout smoke drifting over her house,had called 911 earlier in that day. Ap-pel’s home burned to the foundation.Her remains were later found inside.

FirstCall president Matthew Teaguesaid his system did not fail.

“The thing is, it was a data issue andthe next vendor is going to have thesame data to deal with,” Teague said.“Incorrect data is incorrect data. It wasnot our data. It was given to us.”

Irvin, however, said county officialsthought FirstCall should have caughtthat sort of problem: “We were under

the assumption the service providerwould make sure the data was accurate.”

Jefferson County officials workedwith Baton Rouge, La.-based FirstCallto make sure the information in thesystem is accurate.

Even so, at its last meeting, the 911authority’s governing board approvedmoving forward with a plan tostrengthen the system.

Currently, the authority providesdata from hard-line phones, Internet-based phones and its citizen opt-inprogram to FirstCall, which then pro-cesses the data and does the geocod-ing, or mapping.

Irvin said the board is considering

hiring a separate company to handlethat task, leaving the actual alert sys-tem to another firm. The authorityalso wants to hire someone to audit itsdata for accuracy.

The Jefferson County EmergencyCommunications Authority signed athree-year contract with FirstCall lastyear. Irvin, however, said the authoritybelieves it can part ways with the com-pany at any time. He added that thecompany has been cooperative in tryingto ensure the system works properly.

Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971,[email protected] ortwitter.com@egorski

By The Associated Press

cairo» Egyptian prosecu-tors intend to investigate anultraconservative lawmakerwhom police say was caughtin his car “violating public de-cency” with a woman, thestate news agency reported.

He denies the allegationand Islamists say the case isaimed at defaming themahead of upcoming presiden-tial runoff elections.

The incident, widely re-ported in local media, comesat a crucial time for Islamistsrallying behind MuslimBrotherhood candidate Mo-hamed Morsi, who is set to

face former regime figureand ex-military man AhmedShafiq in a June 16-17 vote.

The allegations are espe-cially controversial for ultra-conservative Salafi Muslims,who advocate a strict inter-pretation of Islam and thesegregation of unrelated menand women.

The accused lawmaker andsheikh, Ali Wanees, ran forparliament on a coalition ledby the Salafi-led Nour Party,which controls 25 percent ofparliament. Salafi leaders arebacking Wanees, calling thepolice report “fraudulent.”He could not be immediatelyreached for comment.

Egypt official accused

Blair Marquis holdsthe OlympicTorch on Loch

Ness, Scotland, duringDay 22 of the Torch Re-lay on Saturday. Thetorch tradition will endat London’s OlympicPark next month.Danny Lawson, The Associated Press

CROSSINGTHE LOCH

Ready, set, Games.Athletes gear up for theLondon Olympics. »8C

20A» NEWS sunday, june 10, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6

DENVER & THE WESTWILL CITEDIN DEATHSSources: Man angeredby being snubbed »3B

POT PATIENTS LOSEThe state Supreme Court lets stand a ruling that medical-marijuanapatients are protected from criminal prosecution but that they donot have a right under the state constitution to the use of pot. » 2B

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You can drive orhike the rims tosee the beautyof the BlackCanyon of theGunnison park.»denverpost.com

/mediacenterA variety pack of medicinal marijuana is shown at Herb’s Medicinals inBerthoud. AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file

By Karen Augéand Jessica FenderThe Denver Post

Starting out his career in St.Louis, Frank Roti was an ambi-tious rock star of a teacher whogot a police commendation forsearching school lockers after abomb threat.

As principal at Beach CourtElementary School in north-west Denver, Roti learned otherkids were making fun of the rat-ty, torn-up shoes Lori Sanchez’sson wore to school, so he gotthe boy a new pair.

As the head of one of thestate’s most successful schoolsyear after year, Roti guarded his

privacy, despite being sought-after by colleagues seeking thealchemy of his achievement.

With Roti now disgraced, firedfor allegedly changing students’answers on standardized tests,and facing potential criminalcharges as well as the loss of hisprofessional license, it is hard toreconcile the man Beach Courtfamilies say knew all his studentsby name — and encouragedthem to throw pies in his face as areward for top performance —with investigators’ depiction of aman who sat alone in his officewith an eraser and a pencil andsecretly doctored the answers tohundreds of CSAP tests.

ROTI»8B

Frank Roti, atpodium, thenprincipal at BeachCourt Elementa-ry, celebrates hisschool’s improvedCSAP test results,which wererecently allegedto have beenaltered, in August2010 as DPSSuperintendentTom Boasberg,left, applauds.Craig F. Walker,Denver Post file

By Anthony CottonThe Denver Post

Metropolitan State College ofDenver’s controversial decisionlast week to establish a new tu-ition rate for illegal-immigrantstudents is a calculated gamblethat carries some risk of alienat-ing members of the state legisla-ture.

But the move also presents anopportunity for the school to as-sert its independence and accessa sizable new pool of federal mon-ey that could help it replace ever-dwindling state education fund-ing.

“We’re doing exactly whatwe’ve been given the authority todo by the legislature — to be flexi-ble enough to generate revenuestreams that work for us,” saidStephen Jordan, president of Met-ro State.

Right now, 18 percent of Metro’s24,000 students are Latino. If thatnumber climbs to 25 percent, theschool would be in line to benamed a Hispanic Serving Insti-tution. While it currently getsabout $16 million in federal funds,the HSI designation would enableMetro to increase that amount tosomewhere around $35 million,just about what it received in statefunding this year, Jordan said.

METRO»6B

Coffman,Miklosipaint uglyBoth sides work to labelthe other in unflatteringimages, hoping to gain intheir battle for Congress.

By Kurtis Lee The Denver Post

Following attacks slamming Re-publican Rep. Mike Coffman as aright-wing “extremist,” the two-term congressman is pushingback.

As he rolled out the announce-ment of senior campaign staff lastweek, Coffman used the opportu-nity to peg his Democratic chal-lenger, Joe Miklosi, as a candidaterunning for Congress with a slewof Washington-hired staffers call-ing the shots for his campaign.

Coffman’s announcement fea-tured an audio clip from a recentmeeting, in which Miklosi said ofthe Democratic CongressionalCampaign Committee: “They’repaying for my staff. I have peoplein my office, I don’t even knowwho they are.”

For weeks, Miklosi — aided bythe DCCC — has competed in the6th Congressional District con-test with a strategy centered ondefining the incumbent as out oftouch with the newly realigned,and more Democrat-friendly, dis-trict.

RACE»6B

Tuitionratemovea risk forMetro St.Aiding illegal immigrantsmay help raise U.S. grantsand legislators’ ire.

High Park fire

Dry heat fuels blaze;residents evacuated

By Erin Udell and John IngoldThe Denver Post

laporte» Larimer County officials saidlate Saturday they were worried that a 5,000-acre wildfire 15 miles west of Fort Collinswas burning away from wilderness and to-ward more homes and Poudre Canyon.

The High Park fire, first reported as a 2-acre blaze Saturday morning in the ParadisePark area, exploded Saturday afternoon.Hundreds of emergency notices were senturging residents to flee, but officials fear thatsome people never got the warning.

“This is the fire we always worried wemight have,” said Larimer County SheriffJustin Smith at a news conference Saturdaynight.

The fire had burned at least 10 structures,

but because they had been viewed only fromthe air, officials weren’t sure whether thestructures were homes or outbuildings.

There was no containment Saturday eve-ning. Helicopters and air tankers joined aground crew of about 200 in the fight. Feder-al fire teams are expected to take charge ofthe fight today, officials said, when the blazewill be designated Type One — the highestfirefighting priority.

The fire had jumped Stove Prairie Road inthree spots and was burning to the east ofRist Canyon and moving fast. Smith said au-thorities expected the blaze to reach PoudreCanyon today.

Evacuation notices were sent to 733phones in numerous areas, but some of thosepeople could not be reached. Deputies went

FIRE»3B

Questions. The Larimer County High Park fireinformation line is 970-498-5500.Latest. Fire updates »denverpost.com/breakingnews

Photos. See a slide show of the images from the High Park fire.»denverpost.com /coloradophotos

Send us your photos. »youpost.denverpost.com/submit-your-photos

Principal aman of contrastsFrank Roti’s dedication as educator clashes with accusations of altering CSAP answers

2012 elections. Keep upwith the latest national andColorado campaign news.»blogs.denverpost.com/thespot

The Denver Post

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14

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COLORADO

Denver

LAPORTE

LOVELAND

FORTCOLLINS

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RooseveltNationalForest

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County R d. 43

Evacuation area asof Saturday evening

Evacuation centerat Cache La PoudreMiddle School

Old FlowersRd.

Buckhorn Rd.

County Rd. 27

Zachary Brumley, 12, of Windsor, standing at the intersection of Larimer County Road 27 and Colorado 14, photographs smoke billowing from the fast-burning High Park wildfire Saturday. The fire grew from 2 acres to 5,000 acres during the day Saturday. Karl Gehring, The Denver Post

Sunday june 10, 2012 B denverpost.com B the denver post 66 section B

Deaths believed linked to woman’s willA son upset that a ranch was left to his nephewand not him is suspected of a murder-suicide.

By Kirk MitchellThe Denver Post

Deeply resentful that his elderlymother’s will favored his nephew overhim, a Red Mesa man may have fatallyshot and partially buried his nephew,slain his sister and then hanged him-self, sources say.

“The will was read, and the ranchwas left to the grandson and not theson,” said Christine Gillen, 78, a neigh-bor and close family associate. “Thetwo men were feuding.”

William “Klatt” Decker, 69, alleged-ly shot his nephew Robert “Duke”Decker, 40, and killed his sister BillieDecker, 67, before hanging himself.

La Plata County sheriff’s spokesmanDan Bender confirmed the identities

of the bodies of the three that were dis-covered Friday and said the deathswere related. He didn’t comment fur-ther about the circumstances of thedeaths.

Billie Decker lived in Durango. Klattand Duke Decker lived on the ranch offColorado 140 about a half mile north ofthe New Mexico border and 5 milessouth of Red Mesa, Bender said.

The younger man lived in the home-stead ranch house while his uncle livedin a mobile home near the La Plata riv-er.

“It’s been such a tragedy to all of us,”Gillen said. “No one can even compre-hend this.”

The Deckers bought the 120-acrefarm in the 1940s. Gillen, who grew upin Red Mesa, said she taught Billie

Decker in the fourth grade.After Billie Decker and her husband

divorced, Duke went to live with hisgrandparents, William and Margaret“Maggie” Decker.

“She always had a tender spot in herheart for Duke,” Gillen said. “She cod-dled him very much.”

About 30 years ago when MaggieDecker’s husband, William, died,Christine Gillen’s husband, Ron Gil-len, managed their farm with hundredsof head of sheep, Gillen said. Maggiewould still move sprinklers and tendedto the sheep and goats.

Neither Duke nor Klatt ever workedfull time on the sheep farm. Duke was awelder, and Klatt moved back to thefarm about five years ago.

Maggie Decker died April 6 at theage of 89.

“She was a free spirit with a gener-ous heart, quick wit and keen sense ofhumor. She will always be remem-

bered. We love you, Maggie Decker,”her daughter Billie wrote in an obitu-ary tribute.

Maggie Decker’s memorial servicewas May 5.

Though he did not own the land,Klatt continued living in the trailer onthe farm. He resented that his nephewgot the farm, Gillen said.

On Friday, Gillen’s son was stackinghay near the Decker farm when heheard a gunshot. Other neighbors alsoheard the bang.

Sheriff ’s deputies responded to theDecker ranch to do a welfare check at1:40 p.m.

They discovered the body of a manhanging in a barn, Bender said.

During their search of the farm, dep-uties saw a foot protruding from ashallow, freshly dug grave along a riverbank.

“That area is sparsely populated,”Bender said. “Red Mesa has a few

churches, a general store and about 30houses.

“It doesn’t have a red light. If youblink, it’s gone.”

Information found at the residenceprompted investigators to do a welfarecheck on Billie Decker at her home inDurango, about 25 miles northeast ofRed Mesa.

Durango police were investigatingthe woman’s death after her body wasfound.

“It is absolutely something thatblows your mind away,” Gillen said.

Bender said autopsies will be per-formed today or Monday.

Bender said authorities are not look-ing for other graves.

“We don’t think there are any othervictims,” he said.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206,facebook.com/kmitchelldp ortwitter.com/kmitchelldp

Other Colorado wildfires

door to door to some residences. Onedeputy was forced back by flames in anarea where residents were believed tobe at home.

“I’m very concerned with some ofthe reports we got,” Smith said.

High temperatures and winds gust-ing up to 30 mph in Larimer County onSaturday afternoon fanned the flamesand made fighting the blaze difficult.

Nick Christensen, executive officerfor the Larimer County Sheriff ’s Of-fice, said, “Obviously, the conditionstoday were very tough, very hot,windy conditions, steep conditions.”

One firefighter was sidelined be-cause of heat exhaustion. No other in-juries were reported.

The cause of the fire was undeter-mined.

The U.S. Forest Service said Satur-day evening the uncontrolled blazewas burning in the crowns of trees andthat its growth potential was high.

Resident Jim Key said he took hismotorcycle out Saturday afternoon tolook at the fire that was sending aplume of smoke over his Stratton Parksubdivision. When he returned, hefound sheriff’s deputies evacuating hisneighborhood.

Though he and his wife have lived attheir home for about two years, hesaid, this was their first wildfire evacu-ation.

“I think it’s precautionary more thananything,” he said hopefully. “But it’sbeen really erratic wind.”

Key and his wife said they plannedto stay with friends Saturday night, butthey checked in at the Red Cross evac-uation shelter in LaPorte on Saturdayhoping to learn more about the fire. Asof late Saturday afternoon, no updatehad arrived. Key said he wished he hadmore information but understood thatemergency officials were busy.

“A lot of things would have to line upon the bad side” for him to lose hishouse, Key said. “But then I don’t knowall the information.”

Residents on Paradise Park Road,Moose Horn Lane, Magic Lane, Spen-cer Mountain Road, Old Flowers Roadand Stove Prairie Road, north to RistCanyon Road, were the first to be evac-uated.

Later in the day, the entire Rist Can-yon area, Wilderness Ridge Way, RistCreek Road, Spring Valley Road andCounty Road 41, including all of theroads that run off of it, were added tothe evacuation area.

According to the North Forty News,at about 3 p.m., flames were approach-ing the turnoff to Sky Corral Ranch, ahistoric dude ranch west of Bellvuethat has been operating since the1950s.

The flames were also just west ofStove Prairie Ranch, another historicranch, along Old Flowers Road, theNorth Forty News reported.

In early evening, about 30 familieshad checked in at the Red Cross shel-ter, which was prepared to house 50families if necessary, said AmericanRed Cross of Northern Colorado exec-utive director Erin Mounsey.

Mounsey, though, said most familieswho checked in were expected tospend the night with friends or family.

Ed Brown has lived in the area since1997 and was given a pre-evacuationnotice Saturday.

He evacuated during the 2001 BobcatGulch fire and last year’s Crystal fire,recalling, “When we were driving out,we had fireballs flying by us.”

“We’ve had a lot of fires this spring,and we’re not done,” he said.

Staff writer Joey Bunch contributed tothis report.

Erin Udell: 303-954-1223 [email protected]

«FROM 1B

FIRE: Evacuation area expands with growth of blaze

Smoke from the High Park fire rises above Old Flowers Road near Stove Prairie in Larimer County on Saturday. Doug Conarroe, North Forty News

Guests fromthe historicSky CorralRanch racedown smokyOld FlowersRoad to es-cape the fire.Doug Conarroe,Special to TheDenver Post

Leo Lopez loads possessions from the house of his sister-in-law Juana Jackson. Jackson is out of town on vacationand asked Lopez for help when evacuation orders wereissued. The High Park fire in Larimer County exploded insize Saturday. Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post

• Ute Trail fire: Delta County residents whowere evacuated during a 60-acre fire nearCedaredge were able to return around 9 p.m.Friday as fire crews finished mopping up hotspots. A barn was destroyed.• Eagle: A wildfire triggered when a shed inEagle caught fire scorched 3 acres and threat-ened multiple mobile homes Friday night be-fore it was extinguished. Later, another 3-acre

fire Saturday evening briefly closed eastboundInterstate 70 a mile east of Wolcott.• Little Sand fire: A wildfire burning near Pa-gosa Springs since May 13 covers about 7,200acres and is still smoldering and creeping.Archuleta County Emergency Managementdirector Drew Peterson has told residents toexpect smoke in the Upper Piedra area untilthe fire stops burning on its own.

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66 the denver post B denverpost.com B sunday, june 10, 2012 DENVER & THE WEST «3B

Documents

2012 Colorado wildfire coverage: Part 1