Kiowa County Public Library District

Much of Colorado is considered a high hazard fire environment and possesses all the ingredients necessary to support large, intense, and uncontrollable wildfires. Our ability to live more safely in this fire environment greatly depends upon our use of "pre-fire activities." These are steps taken before a wildfire occurs which improve the survivability of people and homes.

In the last 20 years, wildland fires in Colorado have increased in frequency and severity. This has resulted in lengthy and costly community and natural resource recoveries. As our communities continue to grow into the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), more residents are subject to post-fire impacts such as flooding, debris flows, and other natural hazards exacerbated by fire. While recovery from a wildland fire begins and ends locally, there are many...

"Beginning with a riveting account of the worst case of arson in woldfire history, which claimed the lives of fifteen firefighters--John Maclean explains the mysterious dynamics of fire ,and the courage and techniques required to combat it. Maclean returns to Mann Gulch, the site of his father's classic Young men and fire, to interview the last survivor of smoke jumping, illustrating how fatal fires continue to burn in the hearts and minds of firefighters...

"The Yellowstone fires of 1988 consumed nearly 800,000 acres--36 percent of the park. In the years following, spectacular wildflowers rose from the ashes and trees rapidly reclaimed the landscape. In this twenty-five-year look back at the fires, author and photographer Jeff Henry recalls not only the summer of 1988, when he witnessed and photographed nearly every aspect of the fires, but also the years since as nature healed the charred landscape."--From...