Fire and rain: Buckhorn Canyon residents feel left out of flood recovery efforts

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·13 min read

WESTERN LARIMER COUNTY — Into the belly of the burn scar, the helicopter turns, two nets stuffed with wood mulch dangling far below its intermeshing rotors.

You can’t help but size up the nets as the chopper whirrs away into the pulverized abyss of dead trees and charred soil and not think it’s like dropping needles into a haystack.

To those smearing the wood salve on the massive Cameron Peak Fire burn scar, it’s more like throwing darts at a dart board.

Two years after the Cameron Peak Fire started Aug. 13, 2020, its aftermath continues to plague residents in the burn scar and Larimer County, emotionally and financially. The 112-day fire had a perimeter encircling nearly 209,000 acres, making it the state’s largest recorded wildfire. It destroyed more than 460 structures.

That was only the beginning of its impacts.

Since then, flash floods over scorched mountainsides laden with millions of dead trees and tons of sediment have killed six people, damaged more homes, washed away roads and culverts, and heavily impacted water supplies for the cities of Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.

And that has left those living in the once-idyllic mountains west of Fort Collins frustrated and questioning the recovery response.

“Fire happens once and it’s done, but the floods keep going on,’’ said Tim Fecteau, whose property in the Upper Buckhorn Canyon and home he hand-built more than 40 years ago is sandwiched between scars left by the 2012 High Park and 2020 Cameron Peak fires.

'It feels like we are the ugly stepchild'

From Tim and Betsy Fecteau’s mountain getaway perched above the single-lane dirt road Boogie Woogie Way, the view across Buckhorn Canyon to Crystal and Lookout mountains was for decades a mosaic of lush aspens and pines.

That ended in 2020, when the Cameron Peak Fire roared across the ridgeline, claiming all but a handful of homes and charring the mountainsides as far as the eye can see.

Soon thereafter and continuing until recently, rains that would have been welcomed now cast a pall because of repeated flash floods. The National Weather Service has issued 31 flash flood warnings for the Cameron Peak burn scar so far this year. Last year, it issued 36 such warnings over the entire year.

The 67 flash flood warnings issued since the fire far exceeds the 39 issued the two years after the High Park Fire, which burned more than 87,000 acres, and is more than were issued in the 15 years previous to the Cameron Peak Fire.

While not all flash flood warnings result in substantial impacts, others do.

A July 15 flash flood killed a mother and daughter, destroyed a house, wiped out private driveways and partially washed out sections of Buckhorn Road, which only recently was rebuilt from the 2013 flood at a cost of nearly $7 million.

Subsequent flash floods later in July and through mid-August added to the misery.

Help is on the way in the form of aerial mulching of severe burn areas and heavily damaged roads. Still, concerns persist for Buckhorn Road and, more importantly, the visible burn scar above Buckhorn Canyon.

Other areas severely burned by the Cameron Peak Fire have been treated with aerial wood mulch drops to slow the impacts of flash flooding. But the Fecteaus and neighbors say the Buckhorn Canyon area has been overlooked, possibly because it is not as heavily populated as other areas in the burn scar.

“It’s frustrating to look across and see the whole ridge that drains into Buckhorn Creek burned and to watch them day after day mulch the other side of Pennock Pass,’’ said Tim, noting an area just outside of help to Buckhorn residents. "I don't know the game plan, but it feels like we are the ugly stepchild.''

That's not by design, officials say, but a matter of time and money.

Around $22 million of mostly federal government money is being spent on aerial mulching of around 10,000 acres on the most severely burned areas in the Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds, between last year and this year. That's less than half of the total severely burned area, according to officials.

The bulk of that work has taken place in the Poudre watershed. Buckhorn Canyon, Crystal Mountain, Lookout Mountain and The Retreat area are in the Big Thompson watershed. Nearly 1,000 acres in The Retreat area were treated with wood mulch last year, yet the area still suffers heavy flooding.

More:Cameron Peak burn scar sees slew of flood warnings, approaching last year's record

Buckhorn Canyon residents are still waiting for mulch to drop on their side of the watershed.

Sean Chambers, director of water and sewer for the city of Greeley, said there are several reasons why the Buckhorn area has not yet received aerial mulching.

He said the burn severity for the Buckhorn area was “under-diagnosed’’ when first surveyed, which he said caused it to not be considered as high a priority as other areas last year. After further examination, severe burning was found in the Buckhorn area.

This year, he said significant staffing changes within the U.S. Forest Service made it difficult to get participation agreements locked down for aerial mulching. That put the Big Thompson watershed behind the Poudre watershed for aerial mulching.

“That created a lot of hurdles and cost us a solid month of aerial mulching recovery,’’ Chambers said. “We would have started June 15 instead of July 15.’’

Aerial mulching in the Poudre watershed, including near Pennock Pass where Tim saw the helicopters, started in mid-July.

Todd Hanlin, city of Loveland water resource manager, said aerial mulching in the Big Thompson watershed is expected to start later this month. He said another reason for aerial mulching delays in the Big Thompson watershed is the same contractor, Western States Reclamation, is being used on both watersheds.

Lori Hodges, Larimer County director of emergency management, said other issues persist.

Public grant money is available for aerial mulching and flood barrier bags, which cost $50,000 apiece, on private land. However, property owner consent is required for those resources, and Hodges said many Buckhorn Canyon-area private property owners have opted not to allow aerial mulching.

She said some residents in The Retreat area have used flood barrier bags, which helped protect their homes.

Road woes continue for property owners and Larimer County

Terry and Raina Clingan own Kokopelli Mountain Ranch in the lower section of the Buckhorn Canyon, where they raise livestock, including yaks. Flash floods continue to wash out two driveways that cross Buckhorn Creek on Wildsong Road and Deer Path Street near their property. They temporarily fixed the Wildsong entrance, but the Deer Path entrance was completely washed away in late July and remains that way.

The same thing happened last year, causing the couple to park a vehicle across the creek next to Buckhorn Road, pack mud boots when they head to town and fret over deliveries of propane and hay as well as access by emergency vehicles when storms are forecast.

Terry believes the larger culverts the county placed upstream of the lower canyon as part of rebuilding Buckhorn Road (Larimer County Road 44H) might have helped in some regards. But he also said those culverts have exacerbated the flooding problem lower in the canyon because smaller culverts under private driveways can’t keep up with the increased flow, which causes silt and debris to build up and blows out the driveways.

“Without making all the culverts compatible with each other, I don’t see how they are gaining a whole lot,’’ he said. “They have put the burden on us private residents.''

Those living along Streamside Drive in The Retreat area also have been impacted by repeated flash floods despite the county rebuilding the narrow road and culverts.

Buckhorn Road, the main route for the approximately 300 property owners in the area, is challenging in the best of times. Its windy, gravel surface mirrors the creek bearing the same name for many miles, including some sections where the creek and road are even. New tributaries that were created by flash floods on the burn scar — added to preexisting ones — are spilling into the creek and onto the road, heavily impacting it.

Hodges said the cost to repair Buckhorn Road from the 2013 flood, which finished last year due to issues with Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, was $6.8 million. Flash flooding repairs to Buckhorn Road from this year’s flooding have cost $500,000, and repairs from last year's flooding cost around $1 million. Hodges expects total fire recovery costs to be around $18.8 million, with the county responsible for $8.1 million of that.

The county is looking at more funding to reroute the road in places along Buckhorn Creek as a more permanent fix to alleviate repeated damage to the road and private driveways, Hodges said.

She added that the county will remove debris and work on improving the Wildsong Road driveway because it impacts Buckhorn Road. The county also is looking at funding sources to place larger culverts and add flood protection at the Deer Path Street private driveway, she said.

“It’s a tough situation for (the county), tough for everybody," Tim said. “It just would be nice to see some attempts at slowing the water down a bit so we don’t continue to see these problems.’’

This story continues below.

'We are not going to stop Mother Nature; we are trying to slow her down'

From the beginning of the recovery process, officials warned flash flood impacts from the Cameron Peak Fire would be felt for several years because of the large scale of the burn and severity of the burn in areas.

The Forest Service’s Burned Area Emergency Response report estimated 36%, or around 75,000 acres, of the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar had high or moderate soil burn severity. Of that, it was determined 10,000 acres in the Poudre River watershed and 14,000 acres in the Big Thompson River watershed, on public and private land, were identified as high priority for aerial mulching.

More:Cameron Peak Fire assessment contains sobering news for watershed, recreation

The high priority areas were determined using science-based information and modeling as well as data from partners with the Larimer Recovery Collaborative team, according to Hally Strevey, executive director of the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, which is helping steer the Poudre watershed aerial mulching operation.

Strevey added aerial mulching is one of the best ways to treat large, high-severity burn areas at the landscape scale.

Shealynn Waller, foreman for Western States Reclamation, said each net of mulch weighs 1,200 to 1,500 pounds and on average covers one-quarter of an acre. She said pre-selected polygons that serve as pilot targets range from 5 to 200 acres.

Daniel Bowker, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed forest and fire project manager, stood on Crown Point Road in western Larimer County on Aug. 2, watching helicopters make repeated drops into the vast lifeless West Sheep Creek drainage. He said the mulch helps slow the rain from washing down the mountainsides and bringing with it sediment and ash.

“This is a huge area that has been severely burned,’’ Bowker said. “We have a lot of areas like this that we would love to hit, but you have to make decisions because we can’t hit them all. We are not going to stop Mother Nature; we are trying to slow her down.’’

To further slow the burn scar impacts, in June the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest started planting trees on around 600 acres that otherwise are unlikely to naturally revegetate.

Flash flood alerts

Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority: To sign up for alerts, visit LETA's alert website at https://nocoalert.org/. Log into your account or create an account. Then go to ''my subscriptions,'' select "event alerts'' and then select the categories you would like alerts for and fill out the information. The system can send you alerts via cellphone, landline and email.

Text messages: For flash flood warnings in Larimer County’s burn scar, text FLOOD2022 to 888777. For text messages for an array of emergency events throughout Larimer County, text NOCOAlert to 888777.

Social media sites:

Weather radios: NOAA weather radio broadcasts official weather service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24/7. The broadcasts are on a special weather frequency, so you'll need a special radio to receive the broadcast. Weather radios are available in electronics stores, some hardware stores via online sites.

Visit the National Weather Service in Boulder website at https://www.weather.gov/bou/nwrnoaa to learn about this option.

Flash flood safety tips

Flash flooding is the No. 1 storm-related killer in Colorado and the U.S. because most people don't understand how quickly these floods can happen and don't realize the power of water.

Here are ways to stay safe:

  • Continually monitor the weather if you are in a prone area as well as have a way to monitor weather updates and alerts.

  • Be aware of streams, drainage channels and areas known to flood that may cut off your evacuation routes.

  • Have an evacuation plan and make sure to communicate it with your entire group.

  • Even if during a rain you don't see flooding occurring where you are, if you are in a prone area prepare to move to higher ground as there may be a delay in the flooding reaching you if rain fell above where you are.

  • If you see flooding occurring, move to higher ground immediately and remain there well past the time the flood subsides.

  • Do not attempt to cross floodwaters by walking or with a vehicle. Six inches of floodwater can knock a person off their feet, and 12 inches can move a vehicle.

Source: National Weather Service

Colorado's 10 deadliest floods

  • Big Thompson Flood: 144 deaths in Big Thompson Canyon area. July 31, 1976.

  • Great Pueblo Flood: 120 deaths was the figure the Pueblo Chieftain attributed in a 2011 story, though other accounts have a wide range of deaths, including into the thousands. June 2, 1921.

  • Dry Creek Flood: 111 deaths when a passenger train was swept away by floodwaters in the Pueblo and Eden areas. Aug. 7, 1904.

  • Las Animas Flood: 35 deaths when a flash flood in Rhode Canyon and Berwind Canyon damaged houses, railroads and mines. Aug. 25, 1905.

  • Bear Creek Flood: 27 deaths. Flash flooding of Bear Creek and Clear Creek heavily damaged Morrison, Golden and Eldorado Springs. July 24, 1896.

  • Flood of 1935: 27 deaths. Rain over a two-day period caused severe to extreme flooding on Monument Creek, Kiowa Creek and the South Platte River.

  • Flood of 1965: 21 deaths. Heavy rain inundated the Castle Rock area, causing extreme flooding on Plum Creek, Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, including two-thirds of Denver's industrial area. June 16, 1965.

  • Flood of 1864: 15-20 deaths. Heavy rainfall on Plum Creek headwaters caused severe flooding on Plum Creek, Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, flooding what was then known as Denver City. May 19, 1864.

  • Flood of 1983: 10 deaths. A large winter snowpack caused extensive and sustained flooding during spring runoff statewide. June 1, 1983.

  • Flood of 2013: 9-10 deaths. A near-stationary weather system funneled copious subtropical moisture onto the Front Range, resulting in flooding from the Wyoming border to Colorado Springs. Sept. 12, 2013.

Source: Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: These Cameron Peak Fire homeowners feel left out of flood recovery