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www.canyoncourier.com
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The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
est. 1958
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
NOW SERVING EVERGREEN, CONIFER, BAILEY AND PINE
75 CENTS
A safe haven from the cold weather Evergreen Shelter Program offers warm beds to homeless
WANT TO GET INVOLVED? Evergreen Christian Outreach’s Emergency Shelter Program will host a volunteer training at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4, via Zoom. For more information and the meeting link, email tim@evergreenchristianoutreach.org.
BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The latest round of frigid weather in the foothills has made the need for a warm meal and a warm bed a greater necessity — and the Emergency Shelter Program fills that need for the homeless. From November through April, the program — now located in the Bancroft House on the Church of the Transfiguration property — provides bedrooms with cots, chairs and lamps for those who have nowhere else to sleep. It is sponsored by Evergreen Christian Outreach. In its fifth year, ESP continues to provide a much-needed service in the foothills, according to Tim Clancy, who coordinates the program. Until last March, the shelter rotated among five sponsoring churches,
Volunteer Joe Niemeyer makes up a bed for a homeless person in the Emergency Shelter Program. Those who stay the night get a bed, towels, access to a shower, a warm PHOTO BY DEB HURLEY BROBST dinner and breakfast.
but after the COVID-19 pandemic started, it became apparent that one location was needed. In the past, men slept in one room and women in another, and they shared dinner together — usually a casserole or lasagna made by a volunteer. Over the summer, Clancy said, ESP volunteers thought about a new approach, and then the EChO food bank’s move to The Place building on Meadow Drive paved the way for the Bancroft House location. With 10 sleeping areas, the shelter can hold up to 13 individuals per night, and now with separate rooms available, the program can help families with children and pets. SEE SHELTER, P11
Colorado lawmakers talk wildfire solutions BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
On July 31, 2020, a lightning strike ignited the Pine Gulch Fire near Grand Junction. Drought, hot weather and inaccessible terrain combined to make it spread, and quickly grow, beyond containment.
By Aug. 27, it had become the largest wildfire in Colorado history, surpassing the Hayman Fire of 2002. In a brutal twist of fate, that record lasted less than two months. On Oct. 14, the Cameron Peak Fire was classified as the largest wildfire Colorado had ever seen. That same day, the East Troublesome Fire was
first reported, and it too would eventually surpass Pine Gulch. It took only 62 days to break a record that had stood for 18 years, not once, or twice, but three times. In fact, that record was more than just broken. By all known metrics, it was shattered. At more than 209,000 acres, the
Cameron Peak Fire more than doubled the acreage burned in the Hayman Fire. And it continued burning during a time when there was snow falling in the high country. Amid this backdrop, with memories of one of the worst wildfire SEE WILDFIRE, P11
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Obits Firefighting
2 Black History 10 Sports
4 Valentine’s Baby 12 Puzzles
8 Sheriff calls 19 Classifieds
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