Places: what changes for fire and smoke cleanup across the region
A Victorian in the Old North End, a ranch on acreage in Black Forest and a manufactured home in Cimarron Hills face different fire risks and different cleanup questions. These place pages cover the housing stock, terrain, utilities and building authorities that matter in each part of the Colorado Springs area.
- Mountain Shadows and Rockrimmon: fire and smoke cleanup on the west side These northwest Colorado Springs neighborhoods climb into the foothills, with scrub oak and pine pressing against backyards. Mountain Shadows was where the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire destroyed hundreds of homes. Fire cleanup here starts with that context.
- Manitou Springs: fire and smoke cleanup in a historic hillside town Manitou Springs is its own town at the mouth of Ute Pass, with old wood-frame houses packed onto steep hillsides and canyons. Fire cleanup here brings questions about historic preservation, access and the flooding that can follow a wildfire.
- Black Forest: fire recovery on wooded acreage northeast of the city Black Forest is unincorporated El Paso County: homes on multi-acre lots under ponderosa pine, served by wells, septic and propane. The 2013 Black Forest Fire destroyed hundreds of homes here, and the lessons from that recovery still apply.
- Monument and the Tri-Lakes area: fire cleanup on the Palmer Divide North of Colorado Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake and the surrounding subdivisions sit higher on the Palmer Divide, with more snow, more pine and a patchwork of town and county jurisdiction. Fire recovery here has its own seasonal and administrative wrinkles.
- Security-Widefield: fire cleanup in an established unincorporated community South of Colorado Springs and next to Fort Carson, Security-Widefield is a large unincorporated community with many mid-century ranches and bi-levels, a high share of rentals and its own water districts. Those details shape a fire cleanup.
- Fountain: fire and smoke cleanup in a fast-growing city south of the Springs Fountain is a separate city south of Colorado Springs with an older town center, many newer subdivisions and its own municipal utilities. Its household mix and housing stock create a different set of fire cleanup questions from the foothill neighborhoods.
- Cimarron Hills: fire cleanup on the east side, from manufactured homes to ranches Cimarron Hills is an unincorporated community east of Colorado Springs near Peterson Space Force Base and the airport. It mixes manufactured homes with houses from the 1970s and 1980s, and borders open prairie. Each brings different fire and cleanup issues.
- Old North End and Old Colorado City: fire cleanup in the city's oldest houses The Old North End and Old Colorado City hold some of the oldest houses in Colorado Springs. Plaster walls, open framing cavities and older wiring change how fire and smoke travel, and historic district rules can shape repairs.