Boots on the Ground

By Donnell Ann Bell

During the fourth of July, we celebrate the brave men and women who have fought to make us free, and on this special day I without exception salute them as well.

But something’s going on in my community that makes me realize heroes (and heroines) exist all around us.  I’m from Colorado Springs and our recent Waldo Canyon wild fire recently made me look at boots on the ground in a whole new way.

On Friday, June 22, 2012, residents around Waldo Canyon, a popular hiking trail, complained of smelling smoke.  By Saturday, they were voicing that worry long and loud, and living in an area starved of rain, it wasn’t long until we no longer inhaled the smoke but saw the flames leaping into the sky at a starting point of approximately 4,300 acres.

I’ve participated in the Citizens Academy and volunteered for the sheriff’s office, so I had an idea of the emergency preparedness these people have put into effect since 9/11.  I also knew about all the “dress rehearsals” and evacuation plans they’ve gone through, e.g. City and County government, hospitals, Department of Transportation, Utilities, Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Forest Service, FEMA—the members in charge to coin a cliché were determined to be a well-oiled machine in both action and communication.

They had an opportunity to prove it and have.

Colorado has notorious winds.  They can go anywhere from five to ten miles an hour to sixty-five in a matter of seconds, and on the night of June 26, the unthinkable happened.  Aided by these terrible winds, the fire cascaded down a mountain side into our residential area of Mountain Shadows.  Though police made a herculean effort to evacuate residents, 347 homes were lost and two people died.   We’re not out of danger yet.  As I write this the fire is 55 percent contained.

Through it all, our firefighters and law enforcement are taking a never say die attitude, so is our city and so is our country.  Firefighters have come from other states to battle this beast—last count 1,200 were fighting this blaze.  Last Friday, President Obama came to witness it firsthand and to declare our area a disaster area.

Yes, we’ve suffered devastation, but we’ve also come to know our city and county is in competent hands.  The Incident Commanders in their response to the public, their firm compassion and their strategy to take this thing out has been nothing short of daunting.  Our news media has been on air 24/7, an exhausting task, to keep people up to date.  Our charitable organizations, The Red Cross, the United Way, Care & Share, Catholic Charities, the Human Society, the El Pomar Foundation, the list goes on.  If you want a lesson in teamwork and commitment, the people who are battling the Waldo Canyon Fire should be a recommended study.

It warms my heart to see people standing on the sidewalks during firefighters’ shift changes to say thank you.  These people are literally battling hell to keep us safe.

Some have asked me if I plan ever to write a novel about a firefighter.  Right now the idea is too raw to consider, and I would be hard pressed to single out any one of them as my protagonist.  I’m surrounded by heroes in my community.  What’s more, I have a new respect for the term, “boots on the ground.”