The East Troublesome Fire - One Year On

In 2020, I was a seasonal park ranger on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. On October 21st, 2020, the East Troublesome Fire entered the park. This is my story of that day.

The morning started out in a slightly odd way. The sky in Grand Lake, Colorado was particularly smoky. Although, at Rocky Mountain National Park, we had gotten used to that over the prior three months since it had been a historic summer for forest fires. The trail crew from the east side of the park had come over the Continental Divide to help out the west side trail crew. They spent the day cutting trees and limbs around buildings to create a perimeter in case the fire got close. It made sense, but I hoped it was unnecessary.

By the time I left work at 4:30 pm the sky from the parking lot of the visitor center was orange. I drove into the park to see more of the smoke column and to take photos.

It did feel ominous, but I felt ready since I spent some time over my weekend packing the car in case things took a turn for the worse. I went home, cooked a quesadilla, and was texting with friends when I got a message from the Grand County Sheriff's Department: "The East Troublesome Fire has grown in size. The Grand County Sheriff has issued a pre-evacuation order so you can prepare...". I told my friends I had to go and started packing up the few things I had left, but I didn't get much time. Sixteen minutes later my phone buzzed again:

"The Grand County Sheriff has issued a mandatory evacuation order for your area, all areas west of Highway 34, due to the growth and proximity of the East Troublesome Fire. GO SOUTH ON HWY 34. Take an overnight bag with necessary items and leave. To repeat, the Sheriff has issued a mandatory evacuation order for your area. Do not call 911 unless you have an emergency. Leave gates unlocked / open to allow responders immediate access..."

I joined thousands of other Grand County residents in what felt like a thunderstorm, but with ash, and evacuated the area. A long line of traffic with visible flames on the ridgelines set the tone.

An hour and a half later, I was in a safe location, but over the next several hours, the fire would grow over 100,000 acres, jump the Continental Divide, and threaten the town of Estes Park. By the next morning, the East Troublesome Fire became the second largest forest fire in the recorded history of Colorado.

Donations poured in almost immediately from worldwide organizations like The Salvation Army...

But also from local organizations like Grand County Outbreak of Kindness; which was originally established to assist residents during the pandemic. The threat may have changed, but the mission of serving the community stayed the same.

The next few weeks revealed enormous devastation: two community members had perished and over 300 homes were gone.

In retrospect, I was fortunate to be there. Fortunate to watch total strangers pull together as a community and even more fortunate to, at times, be a part of it.

Grand County: thanks for showing me how to be a neighbor.

This is a photo of the park today shared by Rocky Mountain National Park on their Facebook page on October 21, 2021. One Year On.