The 416 Fire could not have gone better than it did. Fire probability was through the roof. Extensive resources allocated to the fire, with no reports of structures lost, and no deaths. Durango and surrounding neighborhoods now have more of a safety buffer against future blazes than they’ve in three decades or more. To think of all the teamwork that went into fighting the fire is as impressive as any sporting event that has occurred on this planet at any time. Thank you!
It’s a bummer to hear the Forest Service wants to sue the train, saying it started the fire, with unforthcoming evidence. It’s a vital organ in the local economy. Losing it would be worse than losing a kidney. It would be like losing a lung; the body could go on, but never at capacity.
That the 416 Fire is the sixth largest in Colorado history has more to do with the Forest Service’s fire suppression policy begun under director Gifford Pinchot some 114 years ago and further solidified in the 1920s and ’30s under a series of Forrest Service chiefs. Though well intended, for the timber industry primarily, an all-out suppression policy caused the exponential increase in ladder fuels. It was this policy that caused fires to burn bigger, hotter and longer than ever before across public lands nationwide.
Rather than sue the train, the Forest Service should itself for damages. It is of no benefit to the people that live here.
Ryan Osborne
Hesperus
