To the Campus Community:
I am writing to again thank university faculty, staff and students for your response to the Waldo Canyon Fire as well as to provide an update on our community and university response. This morning’s official announcements about the fire prompt my last campus update.
At this morning’s press briefing, officials announced that the fire is now 90 percent contained and that fire crews are in transition from type 1 to type 3 firefighters. Full containment will likely happen soon as helicopters douse remaining flames on Blodgett Peak. Today’s briefing was the last in Parking Lot 8. Media and public inquiries will now be handled through individual telephone calls.
Other key information that was shared included:
- Establishment of a $50,000 reward for information about persons involved in looting and burglaries of cars and homes belonging to fire victims.
- By the end of today, Colorado Springs Utilities expects only 250 residents to be without full utilities. By the end of the weekend, CSU hopes to have all utilities restored.
UCCS continues to support first responders and evacuees. Last night, UCCS housed 133 off-duty Colorado National Guard members. We expect those numbers to decline during the weekend. I want to thank those campus community members who volunteered to help make the stay of these individuals as comfortable as possible.
UCCS supports students. The Division of Student Success, as well as many faculty members, has worked individually with students affected by the fire who were enrolled in summer classes. If you know of students whose off-campus work was affected by the fire (for example, a layoff at a business affected by the fire), please encourage them to contact Jevita Rogers, director, Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment, [email protected].
A week condensed to 16 minutes. Steve Moraco, son of Donna Moraco, director, Center for Excellence in Languages, completed a video of the Waldo Canyon Fire from the family’s Monument home. To see the video, visit http://youtu.be/ZBA7eHY022k.
At this morning’s press briefing the incident commander, Rich Harvey, said that in his 30 years of firefighting he had never seen such a positive community response as Colorado Springs has provided. I am honored that UCCS was part of that response and that each of you responded in a way that represented you, the university and our community in such a positive and memorable way.
Respectfully,
Pam Shockley-Zalabak, chancellor
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