🔥 Yes, our wildfire situation CAN get worse
BY PEYTON GARCIA | @CITYCASTDENVER
COLORADO’S WILDFIRE FORECAST
It’s that time of year again… there’s smoke in the air, red flag warnings blowing up your phone, and a surge in existential dread over climate change. It’s wildfire season.
🔥 First, the bad news:
State officials revealed alarming news in their 2022 wildfire forecast on Friday. Experts are predicting above-average temps and below-average precipitation this summer beginning in mid-May and lasting through July. If you thought the last few summers were bad, they were, but officials believe this could be the worst wildfire year in state history. (Read the full report here.)
📈 The state of the situation:
Illustrating the situation’s urgency the report was held on one of the worst fire danger days Colorado has seen in about a decade. The National Weather Service issued rare, preemptive warnings for “extremely dangerous” fire conditions — conditions that sparked at least seven fires across the state.
Just last week, Boulder County residents were forced to evacuate twice in response to two different fires. And a fire that broke out Wednesday in Monte Vista in southern Colorado burned a number of houses.
Last summer’s conditions had experts saying fire season was now a year-round phenomena, and the mid-winter appearance of the Marshall Fire — Colorado’s most destructive fire in state history — seems like the proof we didn’t want to see.
🚒 The plan of attack:
The state is injecting $20 million in leftover federal funds into firefighting and fire prevention initiatives, including expanding its fleet of firefighters and fire-detecting aircrafts. Officials have also launched a new preparedness level system that will rate fire danger from 1 to 5, helping allocate resources throughout the state.
There are also bills working their way through the state and federal legislature that will aim to improve disaster preparedness and wildfire response protocols.
YOU can better prepare yourself by checking out the resources available through the Colorado Division of Prevention and Control.
🔎 Learn more about Colorado’s 2022 wildfire forecast 👉 [Denver7; CPR; CO Sun]
TODAY ON THE PODCAST: HOCKEY 🏒
“There’s no better sport than playoff hockey. You go to sudden death overtime, there’s no commercials, and any minute, any second, there could be a goal.” — CCD Sports Guy Jake Shapiro
The Avalanche are the Best Team in Hockey. So is it ‘Stanley Cup or Bust’?
With one week left in the NHL’s regular season, the Colorado Avalanche are sitting pretty at the top of the standings, widely considered favorites to win the Stanley Cup. But they’ve been known to underperform in the post-season. So is this the year the Avs can get it done? Or will another early exit lead to big changes within the franchise? Producer Paul Karolyi sits down with City Cast Denver sports guy Jake Shapiro to preview the Avs’ playoff run.
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MORE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
🏀 Nuggets cling to a chance to advance in the playoffs: The Denver Nuggets nabbed a narrow victory yesterday (126-121) in the fourth game of their best-of-seven series against the Golden State Warriors. But let’s not celebrate just yet — they’ll need to win the next three games (!) if they want to advance to the next round of playoffs.
- 🏆 And there’s always the Joker: Win or lose, the Nuggets could at least still find victory in Nikola Jokić, who is looking very promising for the title of MVP for the second year in a row!
🏳️🌈 Congratulations, Willow Pill! Denver’s own drag darling, Willow Pill, was announced as the winner of season 14 of VH1’s competitive reality television series, “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” 👏 [Out Magazine]
- 🎙️ Hear from Willow herself: We spoke with Willow Pill last week before the finale aired. Take a listen to our episode: “Willow Pill Talks ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ Coming Out as Trans, and Denver’s Weird Scene”
☕ Starbucks gets its first Colorado union: On Friday, baristas at the Starbucks in Superior won their election to unionize in a 12-2 staff vote. The news makes them the first Starbucks employees in Colorado to successfully unionize amid organizing efforts taking place across the country. Six other Colorado Starbucks locations have also filed petitions to unionize. [CPR]
- 🔎 Dive deeper: City Cast Denver recently spoke with two baristas leading the push to unionize at the Denver Starbucks on Leetsdale and Holly. Listen to our episode: “‘I Walk In Everyday Expecting to be Fired’: Inside the Starbucks Union Effort”
🕊️ Dennis Gallagher has died: The celebrated Denver politician died unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 82. During his political career, Gallagher served as the city auditor, a member of city council, state senator, and state House representative. Read more about Gallagher’s life and his contributions to our city 👉 [Denverite]