By MARY SHINN, The Gazette,
If another wildfire should spark in the western parts of Colorado Springs, some residents are asking how long it might take them to get out in an evacuation.
“We have built so deep into the (wildland urban interface) we have to ask: Have we made it inescapable?” said Walter Lawson, a Broadmoor area resident.
Residents are calling for a computer simulation of the city’s evacuation plans similar to those done in other communities, in part, because the city may allow 400 new apartments along Garden of the Gods Road.
Residents are also generally concerned that more people have moved west of Interstate 25 since the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012 and that could make evacuation times longer.
During the Waldo Canyon fire some residents fleeing from Mountain Shadows and other neighborhoods feared the fire would kill them in their cars, as they have told City Council on several occasions during hearings over the Garden of the Gods apartments.
Colorado Springs City Council directed city staff in June to re-evaluate a traffic study and address safety concerns about evacuation raised by the neighbors. When asked how the staff planned to evaluate safety concerns as directed by council, the city staff told The Gazette it couldn’t be done.