Anyone impacted by the Colorado fires??
07-03-18, 11:03 PM
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Anyone impacted by the Colorado fires??
Another bad Colorado fire season
Anyone greatly impacted by the Colorado fires? You OK? How are things? Needs?
I have disaster relief experience, have done volunteer work in multiple national disasters including Black Forrest fires here a few years back, Big Thompson floods, and as of recently Hurricane Harvey in Texas last year. Grew up in hurricanes and know what it is like to personally lose and deal with the trauma. I have plenty of time on my hands, good heart, great under the gun in situations like this, and two strong hands if needed. I have personally sifted through ashes of homes during Black Forrest fires helping folks look for whatever valuables they could salvage post fires, so I know what needs to be done and how to do it if you are alone or with limited support. I sincerely doubt anyone impacted would be here on this forum reading messages at the moment, but if you know someone personally impacted by this, you could pass them a message and let them know this. I have a good pack, a great bike, and could be there in a short time
Just PM me for contact info.
Also, my experience tells me that if you are impacted, look for FEMA and stay on top of things with getting plugged in with them for assistance. Follow up on everything, don't take "no" or "that can't be done" for an answer, love and be patient with the "volunteers," and be super diligent. Early bird gets the worm. Your camera phone is your best friend. Take pictures or video of everyone you speak with that is official or insurance related. Take pictures of all documents you sign in the event you lose paperwork in the middle of a national disaster your phone is always with you. Document, document, document.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! Before you touch anything, move anything, start clean up, repairs, whatever...take your phone out and start recording literally everything. It doesn't take much to do a quick walk through waving your phone up and down over everything like a scanner. Video can be paused for pictures at any point. SUPER IMPORTANT with insurance agencies. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. Write down EVERYTHING, who you spoke to, what time, about what. Might not never need it...but if you do, you will be super grateful you have it!
Also look for the two biggest disaster relief groups that will eventually come to help with Samaritan's Purse and Southern Baptist Disaster relief teams. They will be obvious with trucks and trailers, seek them out, and ask for help (yes, even if you are not a Christian). There aren't many folks in the business better than them if they roll into town and can help you! Obviously Red Cross.
And make sure you tell them to utilize social media the best for coordination of everything wherever they are. Usually churches are always a hot bed of activity for disaster relief teams, help, or coordination efforts also. Good place to look for all kinds of help.
I can also help remotely if needed. I am good about being a bug in someone's ear, research, seeking resources, thinking outside the box, whatever...let me know.
And probably the most brutal realization and truth I can give you...make sure you take advantage of every single resource possibly know to you in the immediate aftermath. You may be traumatized and not thinking clearly, or overwhelmed at first by the amount of resources available to you...but once the nightly news packs up and goes home, and the next national disaster hits, those very same teams there helping you are going to need to move on, and resources and help becomes extremely strained at that point. You will often find yourself on your own at this point minus your community impacted. It is super crucial to get your hands on as much help and resources "while" they are there because once the trucks pack up and roll out of town, it becomes difficult. The more national disasters that hit post your disaster, and if they are more severe, even FEMA gets thinned out. You won't figure all this stuff out until "after" the fact and better to know now.
Anyone greatly impacted by the Colorado fires? You OK? How are things? Needs?
I have disaster relief experience, have done volunteer work in multiple national disasters including Black Forrest fires here a few years back, Big Thompson floods, and as of recently Hurricane Harvey in Texas last year. Grew up in hurricanes and know what it is like to personally lose and deal with the trauma. I have plenty of time on my hands, good heart, great under the gun in situations like this, and two strong hands if needed. I have personally sifted through ashes of homes during Black Forrest fires helping folks look for whatever valuables they could salvage post fires, so I know what needs to be done and how to do it if you are alone or with limited support. I sincerely doubt anyone impacted would be here on this forum reading messages at the moment, but if you know someone personally impacted by this, you could pass them a message and let them know this. I have a good pack, a great bike, and could be there in a short time
Just PM me for contact info.Also, my experience tells me that if you are impacted, look for FEMA and stay on top of things with getting plugged in with them for assistance. Follow up on everything, don't take "no" or "that can't be done" for an answer, love and be patient with the "volunteers," and be super diligent. Early bird gets the worm. Your camera phone is your best friend. Take pictures or video of everyone you speak with that is official or insurance related. Take pictures of all documents you sign in the event you lose paperwork in the middle of a national disaster your phone is always with you. Document, document, document.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! Before you touch anything, move anything, start clean up, repairs, whatever...take your phone out and start recording literally everything. It doesn't take much to do a quick walk through waving your phone up and down over everything like a scanner. Video can be paused for pictures at any point. SUPER IMPORTANT with insurance agencies. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. Write down EVERYTHING, who you spoke to, what time, about what. Might not never need it...but if you do, you will be super grateful you have it!
Also look for the two biggest disaster relief groups that will eventually come to help with Samaritan's Purse and Southern Baptist Disaster relief teams. They will be obvious with trucks and trailers, seek them out, and ask for help (yes, even if you are not a Christian). There aren't many folks in the business better than them if they roll into town and can help you! Obviously Red Cross.
And make sure you tell them to utilize social media the best for coordination of everything wherever they are. Usually churches are always a hot bed of activity for disaster relief teams, help, or coordination efforts also. Good place to look for all kinds of help.
I can also help remotely if needed. I am good about being a bug in someone's ear, research, seeking resources, thinking outside the box, whatever...let me know.
And probably the most brutal realization and truth I can give you...make sure you take advantage of every single resource possibly know to you in the immediate aftermath. You may be traumatized and not thinking clearly, or overwhelmed at first by the amount of resources available to you...but once the nightly news packs up and goes home, and the next national disaster hits, those very same teams there helping you are going to need to move on, and resources and help becomes extremely strained at that point. You will often find yourself on your own at this point minus your community impacted. It is super crucial to get your hands on as much help and resources "while" they are there because once the trucks pack up and roll out of town, it becomes difficult. The more national disasters that hit post your disaster, and if they are more severe, even FEMA gets thinned out. You won't figure all this stuff out until "after" the fact and better to know now.
Last edited by COBikeLover; 07-04-18 at 06:44 AM.
07-04-18, 01:22 AM
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I just read this article "after" posting this about the volunteer divers who found those kids in Thailand and thought this was an awesome quote:
In his words, “there is no dark art: search-and-rescue volunteers are not superheroes, but people who have decided to do it”.
Sorry, I disagree...volunteers are actually superheroes, literally. There is a HUGE difference between working side by side with someone who is getting paid to do something like that for a living versus someone who is doing it just because they simply care and are driven from their heart.
I have worked side by side with some amazing folks who do things in volunteer work that completely blow my mind, and often I walk away from them "breathless" at times going, "wow...there really are real superheroes out there" in the corners of my own mind and soul. I am "not" including myself in that group due to context of this post. The people I am referring to "I" could not possibly come close to walking in their real shoes. There is no better witness than your own heart to such truth either.
I also want to point out in light of the Colorado fires and my own personal experience around all this for a moment, in the event there are other actual human beings out there that may think or feel in similar ways at times, and this could have an impact on anyone...
I sat back during Hurricane Katrina many years ago watching the images on TV feeling helpless and paralyzed watching folks in the water, the aftermath of all that, and the hopelessness I felt inside of not being able to help people while they televised them literally drowning. I made some half ass attempts at the time to get involved but it never materialized to anything. When the opportunity appeared later in life to do something about it, even when everyone told me that it couldn't or shouldn't be done, because there are the "professionals and the government" to do all that, they are just simply wrong. Although they have gotten MUCH better in the years since Katrina, and definitely more professional resources as a result of that stain on our nation, there is still such a huge hole of help. Especially when you have things like Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Hurricane in Florida immediately following, then Puerto Rico (another stain on this country) all in the same year. Teams often have to roll out from one disaster to the next and not being able to stay for very long when something like that happens.
I am "one man" that lives on an extremely fixed income, with no vehicle, and very limited resources and people in my life. But when I sincerely put some effort and heart into the entire thing, the Universe and God opened some doors and some pretty incredible things have happened. I have gotten multiple trucks of emergency supplies into multiple ground zeroes now for multiple national disasters, including teams of people to come help. Last year when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, as bad as the news was making it sound that people were in grave need, I saw things come together that I just couldn't believe, including the local news grabbing a hold of something I had started, and it turning into a really big emergency supplies drive from Colorado to Texas, bigger than anything I could have imagined. It all simply started with hopelessness from Katrina and then putting up a post on Craigslist later in life that I wanted to help. In another instance, with God's help, and because I have cared about stuff like this for a while now, and coordinating with others, we got multiple deployments of teams out during Big Thompson floods here in Colorado. I think, many of us were just kids in our hearts, wanting to be manly men and play with chainsaws secretly, and also secretly wanting to be our own superheroes and helping folks...at least you know my secret now. Either way, lots of folks got helped. Maybe not in ways I hoped at the time or envisioned, but folks were helped none the less.
One of the most amazing things about walking into national disasters and helping folks is that once you walk inside of one, the rest of the world just fades away, opinions and judgement cease to exist, and human beings come together in amazing acts of kindness that you will never really see anywhere else on the planet in many ways. It's one of the only beautiful things you will witness inside the horror and sadness of it all. Being around human beings when they are simply just instinctively being human beings, and loving one another removed from judgement and hate because of the state of emergency everyone is in, can be a pretty amazing thing to be a part of or see it all happen or unravel.
Most of the national disaster stuff I have been involved in was simply walking right up in the middle of one and asking other humans, "how can I help," and letting it unravel from there. Other times I have been involved with small and big disaster relief teams well planned and coordinated, and still awesome to participate in and have that life experience.
Just about everything I have done surrounding this, I would have "never" thought I could actually do one day while I was sitting there watching Katrina on TV so many years ago. Especially me.
The reason I am telling this story is because "YOU" can do the same thing. When that stuff really happens in the world...the "pro's" really don't have it all handled as much as folks think they do. In fact, there is often a break down of communication inside immediately following and there is always need for help. Where I was last year in Hurricane Harvey there was not many folks there at first, and I was one of few teams of folks where I was working with initially getting supplies into that area. I was also surprised by how many other folks like me were rushing down to do the same thing. It was pretty cool seeing other guys and gals with trailers of emergency water and supplies just doing it on their own too.
Don't take "no" for an answer, think outside the box, and follow your heart if you have the time to do so. I had horrible and terrible things happen to me along the way too, and has even often caused doubt about it all. But all of it was WAY better than sitting on the couch and watching it on TV doing nothing like I did during Katrina. In fact, after Harvey I said to myself that I am never going to do this again because of some struggles I had along the way...but here I am once again offering help. More and more groups are forming for the same reason...groups like the Cajun Army and the Cajun Navy are a result of layman people like me sitting around and sincerely wanting to help and just simply getting involved.
You would be amazed at what you can do when you think outside the box from the norm of what they tell you that you can and can't do. You can start a small group with next to nothing and build it through various resources. It can become a chain reaction to other folks also. You would be amazed at how it gets contagious to other folks, how it invites people in to do things they normally would be afraid to do, try, or ever think of, and how it empowers yourself and others to keep doing the same. You can do it alone, with friends, family, start a group at church, at your office or corporation, at school, whatever. Check out Team Home Depot which is an awesome team of folks to work with also just to give you an idea!
Maybe national disasters are not your thing and you are reading this. The same applies to whatever "your thing" is in your heart. Whatever tugs at you secretly when you see it, leaves an itch on your soul that you can't scratch, or something you just wish people would care about more...just go do it. My experience is, go do it, ask questions and process it "later" after the smoke settles....LMAO...if you can
I have taken this same principle and thinking into other areas as well. One of my other weaknesses in life is seeing homeless folks. A few years ago it was minus 17 degrees below zero here for a week. It was at a time I was first becoming more "aware" of folks struggling in homelessness and poverty. I had never really thought about how people are going to die in this...especially schizophrenic homeless people who can't plan ahead, know the weather is going to take a turn, and don't have an advocate for them to care. I never thought about stuff like this before, so maybe I overreacted at the moment realizing all this for the first time at a deeper consciousness, but some guys who changed my life and I went out driving around during that freezing week, all of us trying to get homeless people into shelters. We were just a couple of nobody's using personal cars, trying to talk very sick people into why they are going to die if they don't let us take them to a horrible shelter that I know they hate and are afraid of. Stupid? Silly? abnormal? Probably. Even speaking about it I feel silly in many ways...
But as a result, we got one guy off the street that was chronically homeless living under a bridge, and just had all the toes amputated off both his feet from frostbite because we couldn't talk him into coming in from the minus 17 degree weather. Alcoholic and chronically homeless for years into this two year program with the Colorado Coalition for the homeless. That also all stemmed into me talking this group of guys who came out with me from a church to go back to their church and talk them into opening their church doors to the homeless. In literally within two weeks time, we had two homeless shelters opened up in their church with local nonprofits and still happening today. One of them Family Promise of Denver and the other Severe Weather Shelter Network. All of this happened simply because God put in my heart to notice and care about homeless folks in the cold, and I did something silly and embarrassing by asking a bunch of other grown men to go out with me in minus 17 degrees and get homeless folks out of the cold this "one time."
I will admit this...I burned some bridges along the way, made a mess of things at times, and didn't handle things the best at other times. Some of it went wrong and I lost relationships along the way.
But there are two shelters in place that wasn't prior to this. There are tons of people helping those shelters on a regular basis that might not do things like that or even think to do things like that prior to all that. There is an entire church community helping these people now that wasn't prior to all this. And there are folks being helped today as a result. And I feel awful about a lot of it and like none of it was enough, worth it, what it was taking away from other's lives, what it was costing me personally at times, or just how difficult it was at certain point for me and others. But I have seen some pretty amazing acts of love along the way that have blown my mind and the current stream of life altered as a result.
If you are weak, scared, timid, or don't have a clue where to start...I especially encourage you to think outside the box and big bigger than you ever thought you could be
Matthew 6
1 Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2S So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I am pointing out the above passage from the bible because I sincerely don't want to brag or sound proud at all, and in many ways, don't have a right to at all. It really isn't about pride, sounding good, or "me." This is the internet, I am anonymous for the most part, and not telling you who I am or trying to represent myself as something I am not. Everything I have mentioned I could have never done without God's help or the church that taught me how or helped me put most of that together.
I simply hope that someone will be empowered one day to also do things they thought they never could do either. In the end, it is a win/win for everyone. You grow and folks get helped in the process. Even if it looks ugly or "unprofessional" doing it.
Be the change you wish to see in the world...
Need a bicycle version of that video but you get the point. Hopefully one day I will find "my people..."
In his words, “there is no dark art: search-and-rescue volunteers are not superheroes, but people who have decided to do it”.
Sorry, I disagree...volunteers are actually superheroes, literally. There is a HUGE difference between working side by side with someone who is getting paid to do something like that for a living versus someone who is doing it just because they simply care and are driven from their heart.
I have worked side by side with some amazing folks who do things in volunteer work that completely blow my mind, and often I walk away from them "breathless" at times going, "wow...there really are real superheroes out there" in the corners of my own mind and soul. I am "not" including myself in that group due to context of this post. The people I am referring to "I" could not possibly come close to walking in their real shoes. There is no better witness than your own heart to such truth either.
I also want to point out in light of the Colorado fires and my own personal experience around all this for a moment, in the event there are other actual human beings out there that may think or feel in similar ways at times, and this could have an impact on anyone...
I sat back during Hurricane Katrina many years ago watching the images on TV feeling helpless and paralyzed watching folks in the water, the aftermath of all that, and the hopelessness I felt inside of not being able to help people while they televised them literally drowning. I made some half ass attempts at the time to get involved but it never materialized to anything. When the opportunity appeared later in life to do something about it, even when everyone told me that it couldn't or shouldn't be done, because there are the "professionals and the government" to do all that, they are just simply wrong. Although they have gotten MUCH better in the years since Katrina, and definitely more professional resources as a result of that stain on our nation, there is still such a huge hole of help. Especially when you have things like Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Hurricane in Florida immediately following, then Puerto Rico (another stain on this country) all in the same year. Teams often have to roll out from one disaster to the next and not being able to stay for very long when something like that happens.
I am "one man" that lives on an extremely fixed income, with no vehicle, and very limited resources and people in my life. But when I sincerely put some effort and heart into the entire thing, the Universe and God opened some doors and some pretty incredible things have happened. I have gotten multiple trucks of emergency supplies into multiple ground zeroes now for multiple national disasters, including teams of people to come help. Last year when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, as bad as the news was making it sound that people were in grave need, I saw things come together that I just couldn't believe, including the local news grabbing a hold of something I had started, and it turning into a really big emergency supplies drive from Colorado to Texas, bigger than anything I could have imagined. It all simply started with hopelessness from Katrina and then putting up a post on Craigslist later in life that I wanted to help. In another instance, with God's help, and because I have cared about stuff like this for a while now, and coordinating with others, we got multiple deployments of teams out during Big Thompson floods here in Colorado. I think, many of us were just kids in our hearts, wanting to be manly men and play with chainsaws secretly, and also secretly wanting to be our own superheroes and helping folks...at least you know my secret now. Either way, lots of folks got helped. Maybe not in ways I hoped at the time or envisioned, but folks were helped none the less.
One of the most amazing things about walking into national disasters and helping folks is that once you walk inside of one, the rest of the world just fades away, opinions and judgement cease to exist, and human beings come together in amazing acts of kindness that you will never really see anywhere else on the planet in many ways. It's one of the only beautiful things you will witness inside the horror and sadness of it all. Being around human beings when they are simply just instinctively being human beings, and loving one another removed from judgement and hate because of the state of emergency everyone is in, can be a pretty amazing thing to be a part of or see it all happen or unravel.
Most of the national disaster stuff I have been involved in was simply walking right up in the middle of one and asking other humans, "how can I help," and letting it unravel from there. Other times I have been involved with small and big disaster relief teams well planned and coordinated, and still awesome to participate in and have that life experience.
Just about everything I have done surrounding this, I would have "never" thought I could actually do one day while I was sitting there watching Katrina on TV so many years ago. Especially me.
The reason I am telling this story is because "YOU" can do the same thing. When that stuff really happens in the world...the "pro's" really don't have it all handled as much as folks think they do. In fact, there is often a break down of communication inside immediately following and there is always need for help. Where I was last year in Hurricane Harvey there was not many folks there at first, and I was one of few teams of folks where I was working with initially getting supplies into that area. I was also surprised by how many other folks like me were rushing down to do the same thing. It was pretty cool seeing other guys and gals with trailers of emergency water and supplies just doing it on their own too.
Don't take "no" for an answer, think outside the box, and follow your heart if you have the time to do so. I had horrible and terrible things happen to me along the way too, and has even often caused doubt about it all. But all of it was WAY better than sitting on the couch and watching it on TV doing nothing like I did during Katrina. In fact, after Harvey I said to myself that I am never going to do this again because of some struggles I had along the way...but here I am once again offering help. More and more groups are forming for the same reason...groups like the Cajun Army and the Cajun Navy are a result of layman people like me sitting around and sincerely wanting to help and just simply getting involved.
You would be amazed at what you can do when you think outside the box from the norm of what they tell you that you can and can't do. You can start a small group with next to nothing and build it through various resources. It can become a chain reaction to other folks also. You would be amazed at how it gets contagious to other folks, how it invites people in to do things they normally would be afraid to do, try, or ever think of, and how it empowers yourself and others to keep doing the same. You can do it alone, with friends, family, start a group at church, at your office or corporation, at school, whatever. Check out Team Home Depot which is an awesome team of folks to work with also just to give you an idea!
Maybe national disasters are not your thing and you are reading this. The same applies to whatever "your thing" is in your heart. Whatever tugs at you secretly when you see it, leaves an itch on your soul that you can't scratch, or something you just wish people would care about more...just go do it. My experience is, go do it, ask questions and process it "later" after the smoke settles....LMAO...if you can
I have taken this same principle and thinking into other areas as well. One of my other weaknesses in life is seeing homeless folks. A few years ago it was minus 17 degrees below zero here for a week. It was at a time I was first becoming more "aware" of folks struggling in homelessness and poverty. I had never really thought about how people are going to die in this...especially schizophrenic homeless people who can't plan ahead, know the weather is going to take a turn, and don't have an advocate for them to care. I never thought about stuff like this before, so maybe I overreacted at the moment realizing all this for the first time at a deeper consciousness, but some guys who changed my life and I went out driving around during that freezing week, all of us trying to get homeless people into shelters. We were just a couple of nobody's using personal cars, trying to talk very sick people into why they are going to die if they don't let us take them to a horrible shelter that I know they hate and are afraid of. Stupid? Silly? abnormal? Probably. Even speaking about it I feel silly in many ways...
But as a result, we got one guy off the street that was chronically homeless living under a bridge, and just had all the toes amputated off both his feet from frostbite because we couldn't talk him into coming in from the minus 17 degree weather. Alcoholic and chronically homeless for years into this two year program with the Colorado Coalition for the homeless. That also all stemmed into me talking this group of guys who came out with me from a church to go back to their church and talk them into opening their church doors to the homeless. In literally within two weeks time, we had two homeless shelters opened up in their church with local nonprofits and still happening today. One of them Family Promise of Denver and the other Severe Weather Shelter Network. All of this happened simply because God put in my heart to notice and care about homeless folks in the cold, and I did something silly and embarrassing by asking a bunch of other grown men to go out with me in minus 17 degrees and get homeless folks out of the cold this "one time."
I will admit this...I burned some bridges along the way, made a mess of things at times, and didn't handle things the best at other times. Some of it went wrong and I lost relationships along the way.
But there are two shelters in place that wasn't prior to this. There are tons of people helping those shelters on a regular basis that might not do things like that or even think to do things like that prior to all that. There is an entire church community helping these people now that wasn't prior to all this. And there are folks being helped today as a result. And I feel awful about a lot of it and like none of it was enough, worth it, what it was taking away from other's lives, what it was costing me personally at times, or just how difficult it was at certain point for me and others. But I have seen some pretty amazing acts of love along the way that have blown my mind and the current stream of life altered as a result.
If you are weak, scared, timid, or don't have a clue where to start...I especially encourage you to think outside the box and big bigger than you ever thought you could be
Matthew 6
1 Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2S So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I am pointing out the above passage from the bible because I sincerely don't want to brag or sound proud at all, and in many ways, don't have a right to at all. It really isn't about pride, sounding good, or "me." This is the internet, I am anonymous for the most part, and not telling you who I am or trying to represent myself as something I am not. Everything I have mentioned I could have never done without God's help or the church that taught me how or helped me put most of that together.
I simply hope that someone will be empowered one day to also do things they thought they never could do either. In the end, it is a win/win for everyone. You grow and folks get helped in the process. Even if it looks ugly or "unprofessional" doing it.
Be the change you wish to see in the world...
Need a bicycle version of that video but you get the point. Hopefully one day I will find "my people..."
Last edited by COBikeLover; 07-04-18 at 07:14 AM.
07-04-18, 06:33 AM
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Hmm...this all just inspired me a little more. I just put in a request for someone to donate a couple of thousand dollars in disaster relief equipment that I have been using for the last couple of years but I "think" not currently being used anymore. It's a long shot but worth the try. If I got back an "OK," on it, I might make this life changing and follow up on it.
If I really could do anything under current life circumstances, I would throw my bicycle in the back of a vehicle, and travel around following national disasters helping out. When things get to overwhelming or I need a break, get on my bike and ride until my hearts content and recovers. If that is for a couple of hours, days, weeks, or states...so be it. Then dive back in, repeat, and do it all over again. Eventually build it up with a camper and trailer, and just tow gear, my bike, and myself around helping folks. Maybe a dog, in a perfect world, a search and rescue dog. Live a very simple minimalist life. Instead of bike camping, truck/bike camping and keep moving as the wind takes me. I have no major commitments or anything tying me down.
Crowd fund and social media to get just enough funds for gas and keep equipment current to keep moving the one man disaster relief wherever. Maybe turn it into a bigger operation down the road, and turn it into a "volunteer/work/bike" nonprofit. Go in and setup some type of base camp and have people come out and help who like to bike and volunteer kind of stuff. I saw something similar with a Christian group who does something similar with rides across the country helping build housing. I would of been on that trip if I hadn't found out about it a week after it already started. Maybe long term I could set something similar up for doing disaster relief stuff. Could have all the gear and stuff folks need to help, and you just need to come with two hands, a big heart, and your bike. We supply the rest.
Sorry...speaking out loud...i do that a lot. They say "with God, all things are possible..."
What do you think? You out there somewhere God? Do you think it is a good idea?
If I really could do anything under current life circumstances, I would throw my bicycle in the back of a vehicle, and travel around following national disasters helping out. When things get to overwhelming or I need a break, get on my bike and ride until my hearts content and recovers. If that is for a couple of hours, days, weeks, or states...so be it. Then dive back in, repeat, and do it all over again. Eventually build it up with a camper and trailer, and just tow gear, my bike, and myself around helping folks. Maybe a dog, in a perfect world, a search and rescue dog. Live a very simple minimalist life. Instead of bike camping, truck/bike camping and keep moving as the wind takes me. I have no major commitments or anything tying me down.
Crowd fund and social media to get just enough funds for gas and keep equipment current to keep moving the one man disaster relief wherever. Maybe turn it into a bigger operation down the road, and turn it into a "volunteer/work/bike" nonprofit. Go in and setup some type of base camp and have people come out and help who like to bike and volunteer kind of stuff. I saw something similar with a Christian group who does something similar with rides across the country helping build housing. I would of been on that trip if I hadn't found out about it a week after it already started. Maybe long term I could set something similar up for doing disaster relief stuff. Could have all the gear and stuff folks need to help, and you just need to come with two hands, a big heart, and your bike. We supply the rest.
Sorry...speaking out loud...i do that a lot. They say "with God, all things are possible..."
What do you think? You out there somewhere God? Do you think it is a good idea?
Last edited by COBikeLover; 07-04-18 at 07:53 AM.
07-04-18, 08:07 AM
#4
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Just watched a few
of those Fuller Center bike adventures and more inspiration. Hmm...who knows, maybe the start of something...
Hey people of the future...hang on, we're coming...I am working on it now...
Hey people of the future...hang on, we're coming...I am working on it now...
07-04-18, 11:06 AM
#5
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Not impacted, but empathetic.
Was a USFS Wilderness Ranger (for only 4 years).
To this day I feel, people in the West irrigating big lawns in the summer, draining reservoirs is IMMORAL.
Was a USFS Wilderness Ranger (for only 4 years).
To this day I feel, people in the West irrigating big lawns in the summer, draining reservoirs is IMMORAL.
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Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
07-04-18, 01:23 PM
#6
flypaca
can't ride here in Beulah due to bad air quality from all the smoke/ so only indirectly impacted..
07-04-18, 03:06 PM
#7
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Wall of text.
I'll read up on the fire areas for sure now.
I'll read up on the fire areas for sure now.
07-04-18, 06:44 PM
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Spring Fire explodes past 94,000 acres, nearly 1,000 firefighters on scene...less than 5% contained...
"So far, 104 homes were destroyed and 61 intact. Property owners in the portion of Forbes Park assessed so far..."
"This makes it the third largest wildfire in state history after the Hayman Fire in 2002 and the West Fork Fire complex (technically three separate fires that merged) in 2013."
Map and List: Wildfires burning in Colorado
10 fires in the state of Colorado from my count....9 on that page and a new fire in the last 24 hours.
"So far, 104 homes were destroyed and 61 intact. Property owners in the portion of Forbes Park assessed so far..."
"This makes it the third largest wildfire in state history after the Hayman Fire in 2002 and the West Fork Fire complex (technically three separate fires that merged) in 2013."
Map and List: Wildfires burning in Colorado
10 fires in the state of Colorado from my count....9 on that page and a new fire in the last 24 hours.
07-04-18, 06:55 PM
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I know a couple (friends of a friend) who live in the "Wildernest" neighborhood near Dillon/Silverthorne, who almost lost their home to the Buffalo Mtn Fire.
BTW here is a Google Maps link that tracks CO fires: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...9127783201&z=7
BTW here is a Google Maps link that tracks CO fires: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...9127783201&z=7
07-04-18, 07:47 PM
#10
Senior Member
Farmington, NM is getting some smoke haze from the one above Durango, CO, with decreased air quality. We're also having the biggest drought in at least two decades.
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Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
07-04-18, 08:01 PM
#11
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I am driving through Trinidad and Walsenberg tomorrow morning. I imagine I'll see the smoke from the Spring fire.
07-04-18, 11:29 PM
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I know a couple (friends of a friend) who live in the "Wildernest" neighborhood near Dillon/Silverthorne, who almost lost their home to the Buffalo Mtn Fire.
BTW here is a Google Maps link that tracks CO fires: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...9127783201&z=7
BTW here is a Google Maps link that tracks CO fires: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...9127783201&z=7
07-04-18, 11:36 PM
#13
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I remember Haymen fires...one day I came out and there was a layer of ash covering everything and that was 100 miles away. Never seen anything like that before.
Black Forrest fires was spooky the aftermath. Talking to residence about how fast their homes flashed and how little warning they got. Even hearing about it you can't visualize it until you actually see it:
After watching that video I realized what they meant for the first time by literally "running for their lives." There was an older couple who lost their lives in the Black Forrest fires because they turned back to help someone else.
Can't imagine how many of those fireman succumb to that trying to cover themselves up with those fire ******ant blankets. That's heartbreaking.
07-05-18, 07:01 AM
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The day after the Grand Lake Golf Course Fire, I took the (motor)bike up to the Middle Park* area and rode the length of it. There was a haze throughout the area, but I don't know it that was from the Golf Course (at the North end), or if it was blowing up from the Sugarloaf Fire (North of Dillon/Silverthorne) at the South end. The Golf Course fire was out when I reached Grand Lake, but they had 3 squad cars parked across the road to make the point they didn't want anyone going back there.
* In CO a "park" is a high altitude basin surrounded by mtns. Middle Park extends from roughly Grand Lake at the North end, down to Winter Park at the South end. Granby is the largest town in it. There is also a North Park, and I'm sure everyone has heard of South Park.
* In CO a "park" is a high altitude basin surrounded by mtns. Middle Park extends from roughly Grand Lake at the North end, down to Winter Park at the South end. Granby is the largest town in it. There is also a North Park, and I'm sure everyone has heard of South Park.
Last edited by Shimagnolo; 07-05-18 at 07:05 AM.
07-05-18, 06:27 PM
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Highway 160 and County 69 were closed. I had to go all the way up to Pueblo. I saw a lot of smoke. I watched the weather radar today. It looks like some of the affected areas got rain. The heaviest was south of the Spring fire, but they did get some. Rain looked heavy up by Cuchara Pass.
07-05-18, 10:14 PM
#16
Junior Member
Just a little hazy, and the occasional smell of burning wood in the boulder area, nothing much. Hope that rain that blew through the south helped a little tonight.
07-06-18, 01:14 AM
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My state is seriously on fire 
Like seriously, serious...
I don't know what to do, if anything.
Look at the cover of the evening news:
Like seriously, serious...
I don't know what to do, if anything.
Look at the cover of the evening news:
07-06-18, 06:21 AM
#18
Senior Member
Good resources for wildfires:
Google "sit report" this is the national interagency situational report updated every morning during the fire season.
inciweb - lists large fires on an interactive map. Has briefings, maps, and public info for current large fires.
gacc - geographic area coordination centers. Each region has its own website with info on fires in their geographic area. These sites are a little clunky, but most pertinent info is under the "intelligence" tab on each regions web page.
Google "sit report" this is the national interagency situational report updated every morning during the fire season.
inciweb - lists large fires on an interactive map. Has briefings, maps, and public info for current large fires.
gacc - geographic area coordination centers. Each region has its own website with info on fires in their geographic area. These sites are a little clunky, but most pertinent info is under the "intelligence" tab on each regions web page.
07-06-18, 02:19 PM
#19
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Good resources for wildfires:
Google "sit report" this is the national interagency situational report updated every morning during the fire season.
inciweb - lists large fires on an interactive map. Has briefings, maps, and public info for current large fires.
gacc - geographic area coordination centers. Each region has its own website with info on fires in their geographic area. These sites are a little clunky, but most pertinent info is under the "intelligence" tab on each regions web page.
Google "sit report" this is the national interagency situational report updated every morning during the fire season.
inciweb - lists large fires on an interactive map. Has briefings, maps, and public info for current large fires.
gacc - geographic area coordination centers. Each region has its own website with info on fires in their geographic area. These sites are a little clunky, but most pertinent info is under the "intelligence" tab on each regions web page.
Plus it helps educate me on other resources out there
07-06-18, 02:36 PM
#20
Senior Member
I'm a certified wildland firefighter in the east and get sent out west once or twice a year. Those sites are were i go to keep up to date on what's going on.
