Lakemoor West Fuels Treatment Effectiveness

This is the story of the effectiveness of the Lakemoor West fuels treatment during the High Park wildfire.

Lakemoor West Fuels Treatments

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) started fuels management efforts on the BLM lands adjacent to the Lakemoor West subdivision in February of 2003. The Lakemoor subdivision is located approximately 5.5 miles to the west of Cripple Creek, Colorado.

Lakemoor West Fuels Treatment Vicinity Map

Phase 1 - 2003

Hand Thin and Pile: Thinning was used to remove younger and smaller diameter trees to reduce and remove ladder fuels and to create breaks in the spacing of the canopy among trees, reducing the potential of tree torching and crown fire.

Phase 2 - 2008

Prescribed Fire: The burn unit was 52 acres in size. This treatment put a low to medium intensity fire on the landscape that targeted ground and ladder fuels. Torching of some single trees occurred, which added some additional breaks in the canopy and helped to create fire hardened snags for cavity nesting birds.

Photo of the Lakemoor Vegetation Treatment
Photo of the Lakemoor Vegetation Treatment

Lakemoor West Hand Thinning Project 2003

Photo of the Lakemoor Prescribed Fire

Lakemoor West Prescribed Fire October 2008


High Park Wildfire

The High Park wildfire was reported at 4:16 pm on May 12, 2022. It burned in piñon/juniper, ponderosa pine, and grassland fuel types. The fire was located approximately 5.5 miles west of Cripple Creek in Teller County, Colorado. The fire started on private land but quickly spread to BLM land burning a total of 1,572 acres - 89 acres on BLM, and 682 acres on private land.

May 12, 2022

High Park Fire was reported.

May 15, 2022

Fire was transitioned to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1.

May 24, 2022

The fire was contained.

June 27, 2022

The fire was called out.

Map of the High Park Wildfire

High Park Wildfire

The High Park wildfire started when fire danger indices for that area were in the 97 th  percentile, setting new all-time highs for that time of year in that area. Live fuel moistures in ponderosa pine were measured at 88%.  There was a delayed green up due to extreme drought conditions and a general lack of winter and spring moisture.

Chart on left shows the fire danger indicies, the chart of the right shows the intensity of the drought in Colorado in May

The graph on the left shows the  Energy Release Component (ERC) , the graph on the right show the  Burning Index (BI)  of the Special Interest Group (SIG) - the SIG represents a group of weather stations near the fire location

The burn area was predominantly ponderosa pine, piñon pine and juniper with pockets of gambel oak and large open grass meadows. The fire was wind driven and rapidly progressed in the grass with short range spotting, and active crown fire in the higher density forested areas in the steeper terrain.   

The fire effects had mixed severity with some areas showing active crown fire creating pockets within the stand, which caused mortality in ponderosa pine, piñon, and juniper trees. There were several areas that had moderate to low intensity fire, leaving patches of larger green trees, while smaller diameter trees and regeneration ponderosa pine were burned and killed.  Of the larger ponderosa pine trees that remained, the crown base heights were raised significantly, making a more fire tolerant stand for years to come. Due to the speed at which the fire passed, most of the thatch and dormant grass was consumed throughout much of the burned area.  

May 2022 - Post High Park Wildfire

Follow up post fire site evaluations occurred in August 2022. There was evidence of minor run off and erosion on the some of the steeper slopes following rain events. The shrub component is already re-establishing, and grasses have re-established with high density and great vigor.

August 2022 - Post High Park Wildfire


Effectiveness of the fuels treatments

The fuels treatments that were completed in the Booger Red area provided a strategic operational location on the south end of the fire. These previous treatments allowed operational personnel to deploy their suppression resources in an area that gave the highest probability of success. 

These treatments had multi-faceted benefits including:

  • Improved forest health
  • Improved rangeland forage for cattle and wildlife
  • Habitat enhancement for big game
  • The alteration of fuel volume and arrangement, providing fire managers more options during fire management activities

The effectiveness of the fuels treatments was also apparent during initial attack for protecting the values at risk along Lakemoor Drive.  A majority of the structure protection activities took place during the first two operational periods. The previous fuels treatments allowed the fire to reduce its intensity as it approached the Lakemoor area.  This gave the landowners time to evacuate and suppression resources time to establish structure protection measures.

Map of fuels treatments

High Park wildfire and fuels treatments map

Lakemoor West Fuels Treatment Interactive Map

High Park Wildfire Photos

Lakemoor Fuels and High Park Fire Interactive 3D Scene


Monitoring Plot Photos

Lakemoor West Monitoring Plot 1

The monitoring photos were taken post treatment (treated in 2005) in 2006 and 2009. The plot was also monitored in August 2022 after the High Park wildfire.

Photo on the left is pre-thinning, photo on the right is post-thinning in 2006

Lakemoor West Monitoring Plot Photos

Photo on the left is post-thinning in 2009, photo on the right is post High Park Fire in August 2022

Lakemoor West Monitoring Plot 2

The monitoring photos were taken post treatment (treated in 2004) in 2005 and 2009. The plot was also monitored in August 2022 after the High Park wildfire.

Lakemoor West Monitoring Plot Photos

Photo on the left is pre-thinning in 2004, photo on the right is post-thinning 2005

Lakemoor West Monitoring Plot Photos

Photo on the left is post hand thinning in 2009, photo on the right is post High Park Fire in August 2022

Plot 2 south photos

The Complex Incident Management (CIM) Team assigned to the High Park wildfire (Rocky Mountain CIM Team 1) acknowledged that the fuels treatments were helpful in the suppression efforts. These treatments allowed firefighters to burn out and hold the road during a period of very active fire behavior.  The team noted that the strategic placement of the treatments, along with the suppression efforts, directly allowed for the protection of values along the northern part of Lakemoor Drive.

Credits

Bureau of Land Management Colorado Fire and Aviation

High Park Fire Monitoring Report

Glenda Torres, Natural Resource Specialist, BLM Colorado Rocky Mountain District Fire

Disclaimer

No warranty is made by the Bureau of Land Management as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data for individual use or aggregate use with other data. Original data were compiledfrom various sources and may be updated without notification.

Lakemoor West Hand Thinning Project 2003

Lakemoor West Prescribed Fire October 2008

High Park Wildfire

High Park wildfire and fuels treatments map

Photo on the left is post-thinning in 2009, photo on the right is post High Park Fire in August 2022

Photo on the left is pre-thinning in 2004, photo on the right is post-thinning 2005

Photo on the left is post hand thinning in 2009, photo on the right is post High Park Fire in August 2022