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<br />
<br />
<br />Preliminary Flood Hazard Analysis Field Report, Hi Meadow Bum Area
<br />June 22, 2000
<br />
<br />June 12.2000 saw the beginning of two major fires along the Front Range, One, the Hi Meadow
<br />fire, was located in southwestern Jefferson County near the Park County border, and burned
<br />10,500 acres of private, state. and federal lands,
<br />
<br />On Thursday, June 22. 2000, CWCB stalTmembers Carolyn Fritz and Tom Browning, along
<br />with Colorado Geological Survey staff David Noe and Bob Kirkham, and National Weather
<br />Service meterologist Triste Huse, visited the Hi Meadow bum area, located in Park and JelTerson
<br />Counties,
<br />
<br />At the time of the visit, several hundred acres within the fire site were still burning, and access to
<br />the interior was severely limited, However. burned areas were surveyed along Highway 126,
<br />specifically along Ouray Road, where several homes and structures were lost.
<br />
<br />Overall, the fire did not bum consistently, There are many areas within the fire boundaries that
<br />were not burned, and others where the intensity varied greatly,
<br />
<br />Although the entire burned area was not inspected. some general assumptions and assessments
<br />were made based on the visit and the bum intensity maps provided to us by the NRCS and the
<br />Forest Service, These are detailed below,
<br />
<br />Burn Intensity and Ground Cover Loss
<br />
<br />According to maps from the US Forest Service and the NRCS, the intensity of the fire varied
<br />greatly across the bum area, Those areas most alTected by high intensity bums were the
<br />watersheds of Roland Gulch, an unnamed creek east of Clifdale. and portions of Pine Gulch, In
<br />these areas, a majority of the trees were killed or burned, and the ground cover was completely
<br />lost. Other watersheds in the southern end of the bum also were alTected by high intensity fires,
<br />however, the extents are smaller, and more patchy than in the northern end of the bum,
<br />
<br />The majority of the remaining bum area saw moderate fires, or were not burned at all. Because
<br />of wind conditions during the bum, there is quite a mosaic of small, unburned patches
<br />throughout the bum area,
<br />
<br />Pre-fire ground cover mainly consisted of patches of native grasses and some shrubs, such as
<br />mountain mahogany, In areas of high fire intensity,
<br />most of these 1
<br />were
<br />completely
<br />burned to
<br />ash, Because
<br />of the thin
<br />layer of
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