‘It’s Going to Feel Like Chaos’: East Troublesome Fire Survivor Stresses Importance of Preparing to Evacuate From a Wildfire

‘It’s going to feel like chaos’: East Troublesome Fire survivor stresses importance of preparing to evacuate from a wildfire

Jessica Rahn will never forget how the black cloud of smoke from the East Troublesome Fire darkened the sky as she and her husband prepared to evacuate their home with their newborn child, two dogs and two cats. It was October 2020. Rahn and her family were quarantined at home after she was exposed to COVID-19. Her neighborhood had been on pre-evacuation notice for days after the wildfire ignited near Kremmling — but now it crossed Colorado High…

Fifty for 150: Fearsome East Troublesome Fire caps off 2020's historic wildfire outbreak

The East Troublesome Fire officials is seen on Oct. 22, 2020. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)In the fall of 2020, as Colorado was reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, historic social justice protests and the run-up to a high-stakes presidential election, it suffered yet another blow in the form of an unprecedented outbreak of wildfires fueled by a warming climate. This story is part of Colorado at 150. Each Fifty for 150 sto…