NFPA Journal - July/August 2019 - 88

TIGER'S EYE

IN 1989, COLORADO'S BLACK
TIGER FIRE BECAME AN EARLY
INDICATOR OF THE NATION'S NEW
WILDFIRE REALITY-AND A KEY
MOMENT FOR PREPAREDNESS
By Matthew Foley
y contemporary standards, the
impact of the Black Tiger Fire was
relatively modest. The fire, which
struck Colorado's Boulder County
in July of 1989, burned 2,100 acres,
destroyed 44 homes and other structures, and
resulted in $10 million in damage. Three decades
ago, though, that was enough to make it the
costliest wildfire in the state's history, and the
associated property damage helped spur fire preparedness and mitigation efforts that continue to
this day.
Boulder County in the summer of 1989 was
primed for wildfire. The dry conditions were
exacerbated by hot winds that blew through the
rugged terrain. Insects had ravaged local spruce

88 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 9

FIRE INCIDENTS AND
OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS
FROM SAFETY HISTORY

forests, and the dead and
dying trees added to an
abundant fuel supply. The
area was dotted with homes
commanding broad views
of the surrounding hills,
though many homeowners
were apparently unaware of
their wildfire risk.
On July 9, a grass fire
started by a discarded cigarette was reported in Black
Tiger Gulch, several miles
from Boulder. The fire grew
rapidly, and arriving volunteer firefighters radioed for
mutual aid. When a nearby
fire department asked what
kind of apparatus was
needed, a volunteer replied, "respond [with] all the equipment you can."
There was little firefighters could do. Fire raced up the slopes of the
gulch, consuming everything in its path. "I watched it from about six
miles up the road, and you [could see] houses just go up in an explosion," one resident recalled in a report prepared by Boulder County.
More than 500 firefighters from local, state, and federal agencies
eventually fought the fire, which was brought under control four days
later. There were no fatalities, though several firefighter injuries were
reported and a resident was hospitalized with burns.
As debate swirled as to who was at fault, a case study published by
NFPA concluded that wildfires like the Black Tiger Fire were only preventable through the combined efforts of community organizations,
fire services, government agencies, and homeowners. In response to the
incident, the Boulder County Wildfire Mitigation Group was formed
to develop strategies for minimizing future losses from wildfire. The
group was an early contributor to major wildfire projects including fire
hazard mapping, mitigation grants for homeowner associations, public
outreach programs, and wildland/urban interface code development-
activities that have become the building blocks of community wildfire
safety nationwide and around the world.
To learn more about how these types of programs are implemented
today, visit nfpa.org/firewise.
THE NFPA LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE holds a rich collection of books, reports, and photographs
that document important moments in fire history. To provide better electronic access for researchers and to preserve our unique archival holdings, work has begun to digitize the files of the Fire
Record Department, the original NFPA department responsible for collecting and analyzing information and compiling statistics about key fires and other events. The incidents featured in "Looking
Back" are drawn from this collection and will eventually be part of NFPA's online archive. For information, visit nfpa.org/library.

DAVID P. GILKEY

Looking Back

http://www.nfpa.org/firewise http://www.nfpa.org/library

NFPA Journal - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2019