Vigilant dam crew sounds early alarm on Waterton wildfire
On a warm Saturday evening in early April, reports surfaced of a possible fire near Waterton Canyon, a popular hiking spot southwest of Denver.
Three Denver Water personnel, who run the Strontia Springs Reservoir 6 miles up Waterton and routinely patrol the area, gathered midway up the canyon to assess the situation after reports that remote cameras at a U.S. Forest Service tower captured evidence of a fire.
First responders hadn’t been able to confirm the report, but John-Paul Alexander, a hydropower supervisor for Denver Water who lives at the base of the canyon, thought it wise to stay vigilant.
He conferred with colleagues Andy Skinner and Mark Maring and all three returned to their nearby homes, alert for any sign of a fire in the rugged terrain around the canyon.
Not an hour later, Skinner, who resides at the top of the canyon, near Strontia Springs Dam, notified Douglas County and the Forest Service that he could smell smoke coming down nearby Steven’s Gulch. The fire was no false alarm.
Douglas County responders, venturing up the Colorado Trail long after dark, eventually located the fire, according to a LinkedIn post from Mike Alexander (no relation), director of the Douglas County Office of Emergency Management. With Skinner helping with location advice, they pinpointed the fire about 2 miles directly south of the reservoir.
Firefighters determined that, with little wind, they could organize resources overnight and begin attacking it at first light.
Eventually four helicopters, dipping some 48,000 gallons of water out of Strontia Springs, extinguished the blaze, halting the Bear Creek fire at 11 acres. The Forest Service, the state of Colorado and Douglas County all contributed air support.
The presence and vigilance of Denver Water’s personnel proved key to an initial, organized response that extinguished the fire — just ahead of swifter afternoon winds that could have energized the blaze and blown it toward Strontia. The reservoir is one of the most critical elements of the supply system for Denver Water, delivering water to two major drinking water treatment plants.
To be sure, Douglas County fire personnel later described the fire as having a “high potential” for significant spread, if it had not been caught early.
“Our folks kept their eyes and noses open, and even after the initial report of a false alarm, they remained alert,” said Nick Sporer, Denver Water’s manager of emergency management. “The Strontia Springs team’s vigilance saved us from what could have been a far larger, more damaging event for Denver Water and the community.”
Over the years, crews at Strontia have reported and responded to numerous fires in the area.
Denver Water’s From Forests to Faucets program has worked with partners for years on forest management to reduce the risk of wildfires.
With three operators patrolling, working and living near Waterton Canyon, they are often among the first to notice trouble. Their presence in the canyon protects a key Denver Water asset and serves as a crucial lookout for southwest metro area foothills.
“This is something we deal with yearly, earlier this year with the drought,” said Denver Water’s Alexander, who added that Waterton is prone to wildfire any year. “This canyon dries out very fast, even after rain or snow. From about April until the first snowfall, we’re kind of on edge about fires.”
Denver Water officials expect this year to be a particularly challenging one, and not only in the Waterton area. Record-low snowpack and a warm winter has left the region parched, and ripe for conditions that allow fire to spark and spread quickly.
“Unfortunately, we’re looking at a tough year and not only from a water supply standpoint due to drought,” said Sporer. “We hope it’s not the case, but unless we get some dousing spring and summer rains, we are preparing for very high wildfire risk within our collection area.”
Sporer and his predecessors work closely with several partner agencies at the local, state and federal levels to green-light quick access to Denver Water reservoirs, should helicopters need to dip for water, as they did in fighting the Bear Creek fire.
“Water is precious, and while we want to conserve it amid this drought, we understand the need to get these fires out before they can do too much damage,” Sporer said.
Large fires can wreak havoc on water quality and on reservoirs, creating conditions that send post-fire sediment and debris flowing off fire-scarred landscapes and into the water. Strontia Springs Reservoir itself is still hampered by sediment flows that poured into the reservoir following major fires that date back 30 years.
That kind of damage is on top of the obvious risk wildfires pose to homes, property and businesses.
“We will always work with our partners and allies in the firefighting community to get them the resources they need,” Sporer said. “We’re grateful that in this latest case we were able to help them locate the fire and mount a quick response that protected our facilities and our neighbors.”