Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published March 5, 2003

The story of Missionary Ridge

Although Missionary Ridge is just a short drive south of us, it was another Missionary Ridge thousands of miles away in Colorado that filled our family with concern most of last summer.

Our daughter and husband, as well as our granddaughter, live in Durango in the shadow of the ridge. In mid-June, as forest fires raged around the town, Missionary Ridge became a flaming torch. Horrifying as the sight was, it was almost hypnotic in a ferociously beautiful way to those watching the fire leap across the mountain tops.

We received daily updates from daughter Cindy by e-mail. She alerted us that the Missionary Ridge fire had reached the communication towers and if they were wiped out she would not be sending anymore news that way. Each time we talked by phone we could hear the slurrie planes carrying their retardants to dump on the fires.

In the early days of the fire, Durango was already filled with 1,700 evacuees. These were folks forced from their homes but with no way of knowing whether they still had a home or if it was gone. Granddaughter was under an evacuation alert, and her car was packed ready to move out.

By the first week in August, the worst had passed. A total of 70,485 acres had burned and 50 homes were destroyed, but already new green growth could be seen popping out of the black ash. The local paper published a special section, "Out of the Ash." It was filled with touching first-person stories all threaded through with appreciation for the efforts of the many visiting firemen as well as the local forces.

Last November, we visited our family in Durango and saw the devastation. Following the fire came the rains and mudslides that added more damage. As we drove the roads, there were signs advising caution because of mudslides. In many yards, there were still signs thanking the firefighters and inviting them to stop for coffee and snacks. The vast stretches of forest were filled with fire-blackened trees.

Vallecito was one of the hardest hit communities, and it was there we saw a 12-foot carving of a firefighter. It had been sculpted from a Ponderosa tree. We learned the Vallecito Community Council was sponsoring this project, and this was the first of 12 sculptures honoring their heroes. The 24-year-old sculptor, Chad Haspels, works for the Forest Service six months of the year, March to October. He uses photos as his models to fashion the sculptures with chainsaw and orbital grinder. Each carving in the firefighter series is expected to be underwritten by local sponsors, and they will be displayed near business property parking lots.

These images of tired smoke-smudged firefighters will carry a serious message to tourists. The top 2 feet of each carving will resemble dancing flames, a reminder that fires must be tended carefully.

For the residents of this southwestern part of Colorado, the emphasis is on surrounding homes with defensible space. This is a lesson that we here on the Plateau should take seriously, too.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.