It was a near miss last week for several radio stations as a fire in southern Colorado burned out of control.
The Aspen Acres wildfire came within several hundred feet of the Camp Jackson tower that contains critical emergency and commercial radio equipment, according to reports
The fire near Rye, Colo., has consumed nearly 100,000 acres of the San Isabel National Forest in the Wet Mountains. It also burned hundreds of homes across Pueblo County. As of Monday afternoon it was about 36% contained, according to news reports.
Semi-retired independent broadcast engineer Michael Baldauf, a Radio World contributor who helps maintain the broadcast site, told Radio World the fire came within a tenth of a mile of the mountaintop facility.
Camp Jackson is situated at an elevation of about 8,600 feet. The tower hosts broadcast antennas for KTPL(FM), WAY-FM’s KRWA(FM) and K-Love’s KWRY(FM) and KRNX(FM), all of which air Christian programming.
Baldauf said the stations have been off the air since power was cut to the tower site around July 1, shortly after the Aspen Acres fire started.
The site has achieved some prominence during the Aspen Acres fire, serving as a critical vantage point and infrastructure anchor for containment operations.
Baldauf himself lives about 10 minutes away but he was evacuated from his home two weeks ago.
He says the fire has burned through the foothills and is burning across the mountain face. As of Monday his home and Camp Jackson appeared to be safe barring a change in wind direction.
“The Sheriff’s Department escorted me up there last week. It all looks fine, but everything had a layer of pink dust on it from fire retardant. It was a very close call,” Baldauf told us.
“I turned off all the circuit breakers in the building so when power is eventually restored, the transmitters won’t automatically start back up. That way I can make sure they are ready to go.”
The four radio stations remain off air, Baldauf said, but the site is approximately 60 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, which has FM signals carrying Christian programming that can serve the Rye area.
He serves as a contract engineer for several of the stations. In the winter, he snowshoes into the site to perform maintenance duties.
“I’m the eyes and ears on the ground here. WAY-FM and K-Love have broadcast engineers in Colorado Springs, but this is so remote that it’s hard to get to.”
Camp Jackson was built in the early 1980s. There is no TV on the tower, Baldauf said, but there are several government agency repeaters.
Baldauf says it’s possible that Camp Jackson received protection from firefights because it had been used by the YMCA as a summer camp for underprivileged youth for about 50 years. The site has a medium-size lodge and some additional outbuildings.
“The fire service is looking to protect property and lives, so having the YMCA camp buildings there likely increased their attention to the area,” he said.
The Colorado Sun reported on Monday that the fire could burn for months.
