Ski Country is Also Wild Fire Country

[RachelV]

...

I sincerely don't feel like we're at a high risk in our neighborhood and we do have fire insurance, but as @pinto said in the wildfire thead on SkiTalk, if a fire takes hold we don't know what will happen.

I'm trying not to be overly alarmist about this whole topic, because I live in Boulder and unless something truly life changing happens I don't see myself going anywhere, but we just shopped around for homeowner's insurance and it was kind of unsettling. We live downwind from wetlands vs up near the foothills, in truly what I think of as one of the lowest risk areas in Boulder, but I didn't get the impression that insurance companies are thinking of things at that granular a scale. I heard a lot of sentences like "I was surprised to get back any quotes in that area". Things worked out and we had a few quotes to choose between, but I didn't like the experience. I think events like the Marshall Fire, the fires in Spokane now, and the fires in LA last year have basically turned the whole west into a high risk neighborhood.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I lived in Boulder for 3 years in the 1980's, @RachelV , and LOVED it. We had a place on Maxwell Ave. I still have strong regrets about moving back east . . .

 

[Aerlind]

I'm trying not to be overly alarmist about this whole topic, because I live in Boulder and unless something truly life changing happens I don't see myself going anywhere, but we just shopped around for homeowner's insurance and it was kind of unsettling. We live downwind from wetlands vs up near the foothills, in truly what I think of as one of the lowest risk areas in Boulder, but I didn't get the impression that insurance companies are thinking of things at that granular a scale. I heard a lot of sentences like "I was surprised to get back any quotes in that area". Things worked out and we had a few quotes to choose between, but I didn't like the experience. I think events like the Marshall Fire, the fires in Spokane now, and the fires in LA last year have basically turned the whole west into a high risk neighborhood.

I was in/around Boulder much of my 20s between going to college there and then working there and in Longmont, but I very purposefully did not live in Boulder. Not my scene, and it was more economical to live in Broomfield and commute (even to Longmont….I did the math…). I had moved to Montana by the time the Marshall fire happened, but it was very close to where I lived.

I reviewed my homeowners insurance (here in MT) 3 years ago after my aunt died, and I got lucky, finding a policy better than hers at half the price through USAA. But it was a nervewracking experience, because I live in a log cabin in the west, so yes, in a fire-prone area. I think my only saving grace was that the insurance companies do not look at it with granularity, I think they saw that I’m geographically half a mile from the town fire station….which is volunteer-only and all volunteers are over the age of 60….

And I can tell you right now, I absolutely could not rebuild my house as it is with what it’s insured for. But I don’t really want to rock the boat and shop around, because some insurance is better than no insurance…..

 

[SnowHot]

I'm trying not to be overly alarmist about this whole topic, because I live in Boulder and unless something truly life changing happens I don't see myself going anywhere, but we just shopped around for homeowner's insurance and it was kind of unsettling. We live downwind from wetlands vs up near the foothills, in truly what I think of as one of the lowest risk areas in Boulder, but I didn't get the impression that insurance companies are thinking of things at that granular a scale. I heard a lot of sentences like "I was surprised to get back any quotes in that area". Things worked out and we had a few quotes to choose between, but I didn't like the experience. I think events like the Marshall Fire, the fires in Spokane now, and the fires in LA last year have basically turned the whole west into a high risk neighborhood.

I'm not surprised you had that experience shopping insurance. The last time we updated our policy was 2021 (I just looked because this thread made me think about it)
When I talked to Phil about having a conversation with the insurance company to see if we need to revisit it, we both thought.... maybe best to leave it alone.

I'm not sure what would happen if we opened up that can of worms and our policy now is "okay"

 

[SnowHot]

Big rains are falling in the Sparks and northern Reno area now. Hope this helps the firefighters

 

[santacruz skier]

Big rains are falling in the Sparks and northern Reno area now. Hope this helps the firefighters

Hope no thunder and lightning though.

 

[SnowHot]

Bug fire north of us is now well over 70,000 acres and only 3% contained. This fire is a beast.

 

[MissySki]

Bug fire north of us is now well over 70,000 acres and only 3% contained. This fire is a beast.

Yesterday’s rain didn’t help much?

 

[Christy]

By the time a fire is that size, you need the kind of sustained rains or snow that come with a seasonal weather change. A single wetting rain isn't going to do anything. Even a really good couple days of rain storms, should anywhere in these places that have dry summers be lucky enough to get one, isn't going to put it out or anything close, though it will assist in firefighter efforts and might slow the spread for the moment.

Our cabin is sandwiched between one fire that's 150k acres and another that's 110k acres. When I say sandwiched, luckily the fire is not too close, but the air quality is terrible. Neither of these will be out until November. We do have other smaller fires closer including a new start very close that was reported on watch duty, but there's no new info.

 

[MissySki]

By the time a fire is that size, you need the kind of sustained rains or snow that come with a seasonal weather change. A single wetting rain isn't going to do anything. Even a really good couple days of rain storms, should anywhere in these places that have dry summers be lucky enough to get one, isn't going to put it out or anything close, though it will assist in firefighter efforts and might slow the spread for the moment.

Our cabin is sandwiched between one fire that's 150k acres and another that's 110k acres. When I say sandwiched, luckily the fire is not too close, but the air quality is terrible. Neither of these will be out until November. We do have other smaller fires closer including a new start very close that was reported on watch duty, but there's no new info.

That’s what I would have thought, but it was updated in an optimistic way when the rain was starting so I was hoping it could perhaps do more than I’d assume from here. :(

 

[marzNC]

Another wildfire that is still at 0% containment after 5 days is the Frijoles Fire in northern NM. It's northwest of Santa Fe, almost directly east of Espanola. Heard about if from the instructor I work with at Wolf Creek. He and his wife in the Los Alamos area for the summer because that's where grandchildren live. Fire was sparked by lightning in a very remote area on August 4. Went from 500 acres to 2000 in less than two days. Still growing as of August 12.

August 13, 2026

Volunteer firefighters plan to defend their homes as Frijoles Fire approaches

"We are not going to let our community burn," said Truchas fire chief David Trujillo. "We are out here. We are ready."

www.santafenewmexican.com

As of August 13, about 1pm local time

 

[SnowHot]

Bug fire north of us is now well over 70,000 acres and only 3% contained. This fire is a beast.

Yesterday’s rain didn’t help much?

It helped a little but it came in with lightning so air support was ground. That was bad and then the winds picked up.
Today it's over 88,000 acres and 15% contained.
We drove up to the golf course to practice a bit today and could see smoke but since the fires are moving North the smoke is farther away from the course.
The purple arrow points to where the golf course is. You can tell by the comparison of previous maps that the fire is moving north, away from Sierra Sage GC.
What this map doesn't show is the Stallion fire, which is burning along the edge of Pyramid lake, which is on the Piute Indian Reservation.
Air support has been flying in and out of Stead Air Force Base which is next to the golf course, and they've been pulling water from Pyramid.

Loading…

www.cafire.org

 

[contesstant]

The insurance concerns are valid. I know several people who live near Ogden whose policies dropped them.

 

[HuntersEmma57]

I was in/around Boulder much of my 20s between going to college there and then working there and in Longmont, but I very purposefully did not live in Boulder. Not my scene, and it was more economical to live in Broomfield and commute (even to Longmont….I did the math…). I had moved to Montana by the time the Marshall fire happened, but it was very close to where I lived.

I reviewed my homeowners insurance (here in MT) 3 years ago after my aunt died, and I got lucky, finding a policy better than hers at half the price through USAA. But it was a nervewracking experience, because I live in a log cabin in the west, so yes, in a fire-prone area. I think my only saving grace was that the insurance companies do not look at it with granularity, I think they saw that I’m geographically half a mile from the town fire station….which is volunteer-only and all volunteers are over the age of 60….

And I can tell you right now, I absolutely could not rebuild my house as it is with what it’s insured for. But I don’t really want to rock the boat and shop around, because some insurance is better than no insurance…..

Injecting a concerning note: AI is looking at the granular level. Our condo association rates jumped by 25% this year because there's a relatively small ungrazed pasture that abuts our property on one side and their tall grasses come to within 10 ft of one of our buildings. We have a golf course and a 1/2 mile housing buffer between us the national forest, but we're on the dry side (south/west exposure), so few trees. We even have outdoor fire suppression sprinkler heads for balconies and exits. We were told by the insurance agent that new AI driven analytics identified this "previously unknown risk." So make sure there are cattle grazing next door or fork over a bunch of dough. Then we had a grass fire this year just 2 miles away...wondering when AI will connect those dots. We will probably loose coverage.

 

[SnowHot]

The insurance concerns are valid. I know several people who live near Ogden whose policies dropped them.

We actually did contact our insurance company and they broke it down so it looks like we do have proper coverage.
It's broken down for the house, garage, outbuildings (we have two sheds) and personal property.

The actual property the house sits on is not included because if something happens to the house inusrance would replace it on the existing property

 

[SnowHot]

Good news for the Bug fire overnight. it's still around 88,440 acres and 31% contained! Progress.

The Stallion fire which is adjacent to the Bug fire is at 40,000 acres and 41% contained.

 

[Aerlind]

Injecting a concerning note: AI is looking at the granular level. Our condo association rates jumped by 25% this year because there's a relatively small ungrazed pasture that abuts our property on one side and their tall grasses come to within 10 ft of one of our buildings. We have a golf course and a 1/2 mile housing buffer between us the national forest, but we're on the dry side (south/west exposure), so few trees. We even have outdoor fire suppression sprinkler heads for balconies and exits. We were told by the insurance agent that new AI driven analytics identified this "previously unknown risk." So make sure there are cattle grazing next door or fork over a bunch of dough. Then we had a grass fire this year just 2 miles away...wondering when AI will connect those dots. We will probably loose coverage.

That’s terrifying. I’d be very interested to know how AI can tell if/which of the pastures around me are grazed (by my own two horses….who don’t show up easily on satellite imagery like a herd of cows would…). I also don’t know how AI could tell about the staffing of my fire department. That it’s volunteer, yes, but the members aren’t published anywhere and change often. Hmm.

I’m just going to continue with the hoping nothing changes and maybe don’t do anything to cause them to take a closer look at my area…

 

[HuntersEmma57]

That’s terrifying. I’d be very interested to know how AI can tell if/which of the pastures around me are grazed (by my own two horses….who don’t show up easily on satellite imagery like a herd of cows would…). I also don’t know how AI could tell about the staffing of my fire department. That it’s volunteer, yes, but the members aren’t published anywhere and change often. Hmm.

I’m just going to continue with the hoping nothing changes and maybe don’t do anything to cause them to take a closer look at my area…

We are in high and dry UT and ungrazed plots have tall dead grasses that are yellow. The fenced, grazed pastures tend to maintain a greener tint. Sage is lumpy. Visible from planes, drones, and low altitude satellites like Starlink.

 

[marzNC]

Mt Hood Meadows has decided to not try to re-open summer activities due to the uncertainties around the nearby fire. They are actively supporting the effort to get that fire contained.

August 17, 2026

Mount Hood Meadows Ends Summer Ops Due to Wildfire Impacts

SAM Magazine—Government Camp, Ore., Aug. 17, 2026—Mt. Hood Meadows has ended summer operations for the season due to ongoing impacts from the Grasshopper F

www.saminfo.com

"Mt. Hood Meadows has ended summer operations for the season due to ongoing impacts from the Grasshopper Fire, nearly two weeks after the wildfire forced the resort to evacuate and suspend operations.

A U.S. Forest Service closure order remains in effect for much of the east side of the Mt. Hood National Forest, including the resort. As of Aug. 16, Highway 35 had reopened after recent intermittent closures, and the evacuation status for Mt. Hood Meadows was reduced to Level 2 (“Set”) after being in Level 3 (“Go Now”) since Aug. 4. The resort could not reopen with any of these restrictions in place.

“While the Grasshopper Fire has not made much progress towards Meadows in recent days, it is still an active and challenging wildfire—both in terms of its behavior and the terrain it is in,” Meadows said in an Aug. 11 letter to guests. With no clear timeline for when all restrictions will be lifted, resort officials opted to end the summer season rather than wait for a potential reopening.

Meadows is now supporting the wildfire response, opening its parking lots to more than 300 fire personnel who are establishing a spike camp at the resort.

“We are grateful to be in a position to provide space and support for the crews working hard to protect our mountain and surrounding communities,” the resort said.

Meadows will issue refunds for summer events, daycare registrations and other summer products."

 

[Christy]

We are starting to see our seasonal shift from the dry summer to a wetter September. Seeing all that rain coming off the Pacific into WA and OR and BC is glorious. It will move west to east and dump a lot of its moisture as it hits the Cascade crest. It's the first wave that will bring relief. There are mountain thunderstorms predicted but the rain is so widespread hopefully it will be okay. The mountain thunderstorms have really kept everyone on their toes, with volunteer fire depts and hotshots and national guard crews (and near our cabin last week, a road crew) playing whack-a-mole trying to get those out. The volunteers in the valley where our cabin is put out 8 lightening caused fires in 24 hours after a storm last week.