Fort Collins Museum of Discovery hosts community conversations about the High Park Fire

When lightning sparked a wildfire west of Fort Collins on June 9, 2012, more than the landscape was changed. Although the High Park Fire was contained a few weeks later, its effects continue to be felt in our local communities.

On Jan. 15, the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery is hosting a public forum with three of the firefighters from the front lines of the High Park Fire: Carl Solley, fire chief of the Poudre Canyon Volunteer Fire Department during the fire; Tony Simons, a Larimer County emergency specialist who has been actively involved in many of the big fires in the county and Bill Hahnenberg, the Type 1 incident commander for the High Park Fire. “Fighting Wildfire” is the first in a series of six forums looking back at the High Park Fire and ahead at the future of fire in our community.

These forums are part of “The High Park Fire: A Community Responds,” a two-year project at the museum which will culminate in a special exhibit opening in June, 2015. Each forum will address a different topic and feature expert panelists from the community and the national scene, with opportunities for the audience to ask questions and contribute to the conversation.

The forums are free and open to the public, but seating is limited so pre-registration will be required. Please visit www.fcmod.org/highparkfire/community for more information on the forum series, or contact Sue Ballou at [email protected].