Thorne Creek Fire officer lost home in Colorado blaze

When she isn't working as the public information officer for the Thorne Creek Fire near Thompson Falls, Schelly Olson works as a firefighter in her home state of Colorado. Having lost her own home to fire last fall, she well knows how quickly fire conditions can change, and the devastation of losing everything.

Olson is the assistant fire chief in Grand Lake, Colorado, and known in the industry as a cooperator — a group of experienced people who volunteer to work wildland fires through a central department with the U.S. Forest Service. If she has "available" next to her name, she may be called to report anywhere a public information officer is needed.

She was in Townsend, Montana, earlier this summer and then was called up for a fire close to her home in Colorado.

Olson has been assigned to the Thorne Creek Fire team for a few weeks, and works with the media on fire condition updates and public relations. She also speaks to residents in communities where the possibility of evacuation is looming on safety precautions, emergency strategy departure, how to prepare and what to take.

This is a part of her position she thoroughly enjoys because being prepared for an evacuation is very stressful and she wants people to be ready if it happens.

"After this fire is contained and I'm released, I'm going home for a while and take my name off the list. This is a great position to have but I want to spend some time at home," Olson said.

All of her knowledge of fire and fighting them didn't make Olson and her family immune to a tragedy last summer. After the summer of 2020, she speaks from personal experience and heartbreak.

Last August, the Williams Fork Fire started small, but was persistent and she worked in different capacities for about 50 days straight.

These are long hot days, but Olson was in her county close to her home. Then, she and a girlfriend, who is also a PIO, went to Florida for a couple of days of rest and relaxation at her condo, but stayed in contact as the fire was not posing a serious threat.

Then, the East Troublesome Fire was reported on Oct. 14, northeast of Kremmling. Three days later, an evacuation was ordered for 90 homes.

On Oct. 21, Olson started receiving phone calls about evacuations. At 5:30 that evening, there was an operational briefing from the incident commander that did not sound too scary to her as the fire was still 25 miles from her log home.

Seven minutes after the briefing, she received a call from the incident commander to call her husband with the "Go now!" command.

She had been in touch with her husband a few times a day but was not concerned because of her constant contact with her team which was on site. The day before she had him remove the cushions from the outdoor furniture in the event a burning ember would land.

One of their daughters called and informed him that the area where their home was had been placed on pre-evacuation, and he said, "Yeah, I know. There's a lot of smoke but it's still quite far from us."

IT DIDN'T remain far from them for long, though.

Her husband is a salesman and is gone the majority of the time, but because of the pandemic, he was working from home with their daughters near Denver.

Not being home often, he had not signed up for wildfire text alerts, so until their daughter updated him with a phone call, he was aware but not too concerned.

"He threw the dog and a bag of clothes in the car, drove off thinking he'd be back," Olson said. "That fire took off, called a column collapse, which is when a fire has accumulated enormous amounts of energy but doesn't have enough oxygen, so it spreads out rapidly. That evening, the fire traveled 120,000 acres."

Their home and 30 others were reduced to ash. The fuel consisted of dead and downed lodgepole pine, 90% of which was the result of a beetle kill. The East Troublesome fire ended up burning nearly 200,000 acres.

OLSON SPOKE with the incident meteorologist later for the details. Her house was at 8,600 feet and at 10 p.m. on Oct. 21, they had 100 mph winds, with the temperature at 72 degrees and 10% relative humidity.

At a time when higher elevations could have snow, the conditions were obviously prime for a wildfire to grow rapidly.

Then a winter storm blew in on Oct. 24 and the fire activity declined rapidly. But it wasn't soon enough to save the homes destroyed in the massive blaze.

"When I speak at HOA (Home-Owners Associations) meetings, this is what I tell everyone," Olson said. "Talk to your insurance agent and find out if this happens to you, what is covered, today. Is it a replacement cost? Is it actual value? Will they cover your living expenses while you are living in a motel or a rental? I've seen so many people suffer more after the fire dealing with their insurance companies because they thought they were prepared and covered."

The Wildland Firefighter Association in Boise, Idaho, is an organization she endorses as they help victims with unexpected assistance.

She urges neighborhoods and communities in forested areas to discuss fuel mitigation cooperatively and develop a plan.

"Take pictures or scan your children or grandchildren's artwork, family heirlooms and items that cannot be replaced. Birth certificates and diplomas can be copied so think of what cannot ever be substituted. Reflective addressing is so important for first responders to avoid any delay of emergency service," she said.