Accidents and Disasters

Update: Robin and Mark Herklotz ID'd as Black Forest fire victims, 509 homes destroyed

Update: The two victims of the Black Forest fire, which sparked to life on June 11, have been ID'd as Marc Allen Herklotz, 52, and Robin Lauran Herklotz, fifty, married residents of Black Forest. The laborious identification process speaks to the horrific force of nature that took their lives. In t ... More >>

Photos: Ten deadliest fires in U.S. history

The ongoing Black Forest fire in El Paso County has destroyed 483 homes at this writing, as well as killing two people -- and we're fortunate that the loss of life wasn't nearly great enough to land it on this Wikipedia's list of noteworthy wildfires. The page is an awful record of scorched land and ... More >>

Videos: Remembering Tim Samaras, storm chaser killed in tornado alongside son, partner

Tomorrow at 1 p.m., Mission Hills Church in Littleton will host a memorial service for Tim Samaras, his son Paul and his longtime partner Carl Young -- three storm chasers who dedicated their lives to documenting the sort of deadly weather from which most of us run. The three -- well known to viewer ... More >>

Photos: Joe Timlin, Rick Gaukel among five victims in deadliest avalanche since 1962

On Saturday, the Colorado snowboarding community was still reeling from the avalanche death of Mark McCarron (announced by authorities along with a controversial marijuana reference) when another tragedy struck -- this one with an even greater loss of life. Five people died near Loveland in what is ... More >>

After the Fall

Ski area death of Patsy Hileman shouldn't count toward resort fatalities, industry group says

Update: In a post yesterday about ski area deaths thus far in the 2012-13 season (see it below), we noted that resorts have established rules to determine whether or not fatal accidents count toward the total. As evidence, note that Colorado Ski Country USA disagrees with the claim that three people ... More >>

Photos, videos: Waldo Canyon fire finally 100 percent contained

Update: At long last comes the announcement residents of Colorado Springs have been awaiting since June 23, when the Waldo Canyon fire flared to life. The blaze, which destroyed 346 homes and took the lives of Barbara and William Everett, age 73 and 74, respectively, is finally 100 percent containe ... More >>

High Park fire update: Mishawaka Amphitheatre reopening symbol of blaze's defeat

Update: The High Park fire near Fort Collins is 100 percent contained, and while it's not officially dead yet, the blaze is no longer the threat it was to life, limb and property. A symbol of its de facto defeat? The reopening tomorrow of the Mishawaka Amphitheatre, a beloved landmark that managed ... More >>

Wildfire victim benefits include IKEA discount, yoga classes

Colorado's urge to do something, anything, to help those affected by the wildfires has spread like, well, wildfire. Caravans of cars have descended on Colorado Springs, heading right past that IKEA sign on I-25, with piles of donated goods for victims of the Waldo Canyon fire. If the state were fi ... More >>

Flagstaff fire update: Stuck at 90 percent contained, some open space areas still closed

Update: The Boulder Office of Emergency Management was so confident the Flagstaff fire outside of town was a thing of the past that a so-called "final update" was posted on Saturday afternoon. But despite predictions of 100 percent containment before the weekend was done, Flagstaff (the lesser of th ... More >>

High Park fire update: 85 percent containment, many subdivisions reopened

Update: As those living near the Waldo Canyon fire outside Colorado Springs were plunged into terror (347 homes confirmed burned, at least one death), the people who've been suffering through the High Park fire fifteen miles from Fort Collins for three long, exhausting weeks may finally be getting a ... More >>

Flagstaff fire in Boulder update: 100 percent containment by the weekend?

Update: Given the horrors inflicting on the residents of Colorado Springs by the Waldo Canyon fire, and those living in and around Fort Collins by the High Park fire, Boulderites should be counting their blessings. The Flagstaff fire near the town limits, which seemed so threatening just a few days ... More >>

Photos: The people of the Waldo Canyon fire

"We will rebuild Majestic Drive." These are the words of Terry Rector, a Colorado Springs lawyer who gathered with a number of others who also lived on Majestic (map here), before the area was devastated by the Waldo Canyon fire. Yesterday, photographer Brandon Marshall spent the day in the Spring ... More >>

Climate change contributes to wildfires, makes them hard to fight, scientists say

Leading climate-change scientists say the chances of humans stopping the wildfires raging across Colorado aren't good. "These wildfires, when they become wind-driven, are like a nuclear bomb going off, and humans are not going to stop them any more than they stopped the hurricanes in Gulf Coast," ... More >>

What does Google think of your band name?

At what point does a band become famous enough that they begin to surpass the nouns they've co-opted? How does Google know you want Cake the band, not cake the dessert, if you only search for "cake" and no other words? Is there a band name that is un-Googleable? These are the questions that weighed ... More >>

Joshua Allen's Copper Mountain death adds another fatality to lethal ski season

Update: Sadly, the number of ski deaths in Colorado this season has grown again. On Sunday, 24-year-old Joshua Allen of Tampa, Florida, was found in the trees of the Elk Run underneath the Outback lift at Keystone and airlifted to Summit Medical Center, where he later died.

Tornado Alley filmmaker Sean Casey on life in the eye of the storm

​Most of us here in Colorado can relate to the rush of skiing down a mountain of fresh powder. But that rush is nothing compared to the heart-stopping, breath-seizing thrill of entering a tornado's destructive vortex of violently rotating winds. But for the past eight years, that was the missi ... More >>

Typhoon

Wednesday, August 10, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

Reader: Hit-and-run laws haven't stopped cowardly drivers from taking the easy way out

Tim Albo.​Family members of hit-and-run victim Tim Albo believe current laws reward drunk drivers for leaving the scene of an accident -- and they'd like to change that equation. In the meantime, asks one reader, where's that leave victims?

Ken Salazar's salary at center of David Vitter ethics complaint, CREW tells Keith Olbermann

Ken Salazar.​During last night's sophomore edition of Countdown on Current TV, Keith Olbermann featured an extended segment about Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filing an ethics complaint against Louisiana Senator David Vitter. But the man in the middle of the cont ... More >>

Giving Back To Japan

25th Anniversary of Chernobyl: Protesters voice nuclear concerns at State Capitol

Wes McKinley.​Earlier this week, protesters marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster with a Capitol steps protest. Among the speakers: Wes McKinley, a state rep and onetime foreman of the Rocky Flats grand jury, which tops Alan Prendergast's list of Colorado's greatest whistleblow ... More >>

Crocs donates 100,000 pairs of shoes to Japanese earthquake & tsunami victims

​We've made lotsa sport of Niwot-based Crocs, from a 2005 feature that included savage reviews by fashionistas to reports of what Alan Prendergast described as the "brightly hued, comfy-ugly clown shoes" being escalator unfriendly. So our first thought after hearing the company is donating 100 ... More >>

Model rocket allegedly starts Boulder County grass fire, and that's not only burn ban violation

Flickr​The precipitation falling at this writing should put a punctuation mark on the Indian Gulch and Burning Tree fires -- but the moisture isn't enough to end the dry conditions that have prompted multiple local fire bans. Not that everyone's paying attention, judging by not one, not two, b ... More >>

Indian Gulch fire near Golden: Burned acreage increases to 1,502 (VIDEOS)

​Update: The Indian Gulch fire near Golden is a top wildfire priority nationally; at this writing, it's in the number one slot on the feds' Inciweb.org website. And while the winds that were helping to fuel the blaze have died down to a significant degree, they did significant damage, increas ... More >>

Radiation from Japanese nuclear paint found in Colorado: Health dept. says no need to panic

​Last week, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment tried to counter media-fueled fears about radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan creating health risks here. Today, that job just got more difficult. The CDPHE confirms that "minuscule" amounts of ... More >>

Local Japan benefits: Video gaming, taiko drumming and a hip-hop compilation

​If you've been inclined to pitch in for the victims of the Japanese earthquake but haven't known how to do it, there are a few different options this week. One involves playing Rock Band on stage, one involves chip tunes, another involves Taiko drumming and still another is for fans of hip-ho ... More >>

Update: More food-centric benefits for Japan

A Flickr photo.​Denver restaurants are rallying to aid Japan; here are some of the local benefits: Ototo Food and Wine (www.facebook.com/ototoden), Izakaya Den (www.izakayaden.net) and Sushi Den (www.facebook.com/sushiden) will host fundraisers through Saturday, March 19. A portion of dinner ... More >>

Japanese radiation worries in U.S.: Health dept. tries to calm fears as media stokes them

​This morning, Peter Boyles spent part of his KHOW morning show wondering if we should be taking potassium iodide to protect ourselves against radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. And at this writing, the main story on the CBS4 home page asks, "Could Japan's Radi ... More >>

Scott Kay, Wolf Creek Ski Patrol director, dies in avalanche

Scott Kay.​Scott Kay, Wolf Creek Ski Patrol director, died in an avalanche early today. The ski area reported thirteen inches of new snow this morning and eighteen inches in the last 48 hours.

Nadine Montoya guilty of first-degree murder in Burger King hit-and-run

Nadine Montoya.​Nadine Montoya has been convicted of murdering a 49-year-old Aurora woman in a hit-and-run at a Burger King last May. Montoya, 27, will likely serve life in prison for crushing Lilian Verdonkschot with her Cadillac deVille and then fleeing the scene. The altercation started w ... More >>

Boulder Fourmile Canyon fire update: Will deadly California blaze cut into resources?

From SF ABC7San Bruno blaze.​Last night, the high winds that hit the Fourmile Canyon fire burn area near Boulder didn't exacerbate the situation as feared. As Boulder County public information officer Mike Banuelos says this morning, "Firefighters held the line." But will some of them be sent ... More >>

Sarah Trujillo formally charged with vehicular homicide in death of scooter-rider Brian Hoyle

Sarah Trujillo.​Yesterday, we told you about the Facebook tribute to Brian Hoyle, the scooter rider killed in a hit-and-run accident late Friday. Now, the woman who was allegedly behind the wheel in the crash -- Sarah Trujillo, 23 -- has been formally charged with vehicular homicide and leavin ... More >>

Tonight: Drink beer to help the Gulf Coast Spill Relief Fund

A Flickr photo. ​So that oil spill in the Gulf -- bummer, right? And it's still spewing, and apparently doesn't intent to stop anytime soon. We might be landlocked here in this state, but that doesn't mean no one here cares about the BP disaster; to prove it, Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery, 4700 Ch ... More >>

Ken Salazar finds oil spilling from Gulf into Colorado

​The Deepwater Horizon disaster keeps spilling into my inbox, more than 1,300 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, where there's "oil for miles and miles," Attorney General Eric Holder lamented yesterday in New Orleans. Denver is more than 1,300 miles from the Big Easy, but the disaster has spilled ... More >>

Mile High Murder, No. 53: Thomas William Boyle booked on vehicular homicide for Harlan Street hit and run that killed Raymond Rivera

Thomas William Boyle should have taken a cab.​Late Monday evening, Raymond Rivera, 48, tried to cross Harlan Street at Alameda Avenue. Unfortunately, he didn't make it -- and the vehicle that struck him didn't stop. According to the Lakewood Police Department, Rivera was struck by a van drive ... More >>

Colorado is suddenly earthquake central

The blue square on the map represents the location of an earthquake earlier today (click to enlarge).​Earlier today, an earthquake struck near Craig; the U.S. Geological Survey rates it a 3.7 magnitude temblor. That follows a 3.9 magnitude quake near Eads yesterday. So where will nature's ven ... More >>

CSU's Japan earthquake test: best experiment ever

Yesterday, a Colorado State University team led by civil engineering professor John van de Lindt successfully staged a very large-scale test in Miki City, Japan. They've come up with a new approach to building earthquake-proof (or at least more earthquake-proof) buildings, and to see if they're on ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: FEMA trouble

Among the residents who evacuated in the face of a fast-moving fire in Boulder this week was Michael Brown, current consultant and talk-show host, and former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a man who will be forever linked with this remark by President George W. Bush over his ... More >>

Katrina, stark and surreal, in Trouble the Water

The Eye of the Storm

From the bayou to Boulder, Michael Brown's had a heckuva year.

The Skeptic

Celebrated and shunned, CSU's Bill Gray is taking heat in the global-warming debate.

All Wet

Critical Fatwa

Michael Stipe

Club Scout

Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge

Off Limits

Trouble's Bruin

Drink of the Week

Tommy's Mai Tai

Consumed by Fire

On the front lines of the Hayman blaze.

Best Tornado Tours

Storm Chasing Adventure Tours

A Bridge Too Close

In the wake of the "Ghost Bridge" fatal accident, the only person charged is a no-show.