Six Weeks
In June of 2013, I dropped my son off at the Spanish Peaks Scout Reservation. He'd signed up to be a counselor in training and would be spending six weeks on the side of a Colorado Mountain. I was nervous. He was only 14 at the time and had never been away from home for more than 10 days before. Not only would he be away from home, he would be a 12 hour drive from home. I had planned for this and was ready to catch a flight to nearby Pueblo and get to him if there happened to be an emergency.Ready for This
I was confident in his ability to handle an emergency. He'd been trained in all of the scouting basics, and had earned a variety of readiness merit badges. But he'd never faced a real emergency before, and I hated the idea that he might have to face one without my help.Fires
This particular summer had been a dry one in Colorado and there had already been a dozen or moremajor forest fires in the state. Near Colorado Springs, the Black Forest Fire was still burning. But there hadn't been any fires in southern Colorado - yet.
Fire!
Then my fears were realized. On the evening of June 19th I received a call from an unknown number. Normally I let those go to voicemail, but I decided I'd answer this one. Unfortunately I was too late and the call went to voicemail anyway. Once I got to the voicemail I heard my son say "I'm alright, but please, please call me back as soon as you can." While listening to the voicemail I received a text from my wife, "Please call me as soon as you can." Obviously something very wrong was happening. I still hadn't connected the dots to the forest fires. They were all so far away. I was wrong.Relief
I was able to connect with my son within a few minutes and was so incredibly relieved to hear his voice on the other end. He and the rest of the occupants of his camp had evacuated to a nearby high school where the red cross had set up an aid station. His camp and the mountain it occupied were burning.Getting There
When I received the call I was out of town on business with a return flight through Denver early the next morning. We made a number of possible plans that depended on where he might be by morning. The fire was out of control and they didn't even know if the town they had evacuated to would be there by the time I could get to him. The next morning I arrived at the Denver airport. We had planned for me to complete my flight home and get him onto a flight home from Pueblo when my son reminded my wife that there were others from our home town that we needed to help. After a very brief discussion with my wife over the phone and the flight attendant at the door I was off the plane and headed for the rental car counters.No Luck
Not a single rental car was available. I was stuck a four hour drive from my son and had no way to get to him. Then I remembered that a friend lived in Colorado Springs. "What are you doing for lunch?", I asked him. After a little explanation on my part my friend was in the car, heading for Denver. He was able to get me to Colorado Springs where I was able to rent a car. Two hours later I was in Pueblo on the phone with my son, and one hour after that I met him at the high school he had slept in the night before.45 Minutes
I picked up my son and three others from our area. Thanks to my son's selflessness I was able to get them all lunch and then get them clothes at a nearby department store. They had nothing but what they had been wearing when smoke was first seen. Under normal circumstances it takes 45 minutes to drive from the camp to the nearest town. These had not been normal circumstances. Nearly 200 adults and scouts, some as young as ten years old only had 45 minutes to gather, get into cars, and get off of the mountain before the camp was engulfed. There was no time to go get anything. Some of the tents, my son's included, were already burning by the time everyone gathered to evacuate.Prepared
But the campers and staff were prepared. They had planned for this and practiced. Every camper and staff member was accounted for and evacuated with only very minor injuries. Those responsible for others, including my son, stepped up an did their jobs to get everyone out safely. The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared." Every scout says that. Every scout learns the skills required to handle emergencies. Most never have to use those skills or live that motto. Some do. My son and the rest of the campers and staff at Spanish Peaks Scout Reservation relied on their training and he lived up to the motto.
Next Summer
Only days after picking up my son and the others, those that he selflessly reminded me needed to be helped as well, my son told me that he wanted to go back for the next summer. I wasn't too sure about it, but he was. When I dropped him off for the 2014 session we stood at the spot where his tent had been. It was sobering to see the ashes, but I knew as we stood there that he had gone to camp the summer before a boy and came home a young man. I've never had to directly face the challenges that he had in 2013 and hope I never will. My son faced them and handled them with a maturity that most of us will never have. He was prepared. I know now that he is prepared for the life he has ahead of him and I'm ready to see him face it head on.
References
Our Personal Story of the East Peak FireWikipedia Article About the East Peak Fire
