Officials To Hold News Conference On Waldo Canyon Fire
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - It was a wildfire many will never forget and investigators have now determined what caused the most destructive fire in Colorado history.
The Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs killed two people and destroyed some 350 homes.
4 On Your Side Investigator Rick Sallinger first reported officials will be briefed on the findings on Wednesday, followed by a news conference at 2:30 p.m. in Colorado Springs. But even then the cause might not be revealed.
The information is being very closely held. The investigators do not want what they know out in the media. That's because at some point if they can question someone in connection with how the blaze started they want to be able to know if that person is telling the truth.
They will, however, say the fire was human-caused. It is still not known if it was an accident or deliberately set.
"I'm thinking maybe someone didn't even know what happened," said Shelby Bullock, who lost her home in the fire. "That they left something smoldering and this happened."
The task force investigating the fire knows where the fire began. They do not have anyone who was present when it started.
The fire began in Waldo Canyon and festered for days above Colorado Springs before the collapse of a column of smoke pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood.
Today there are signs of life returning. The first home to be rebuilt has taken shape and land is being prepared for more houses. Bullock is trying to decide if she should go back there to live.
"It's always painful. I don't know when that goes away," she said. "I guess time will heal."
Despite her loss, she is no hurry to learn the cause of the Waldo Canyon Fire.
"Because it really doesn't matter to me," Bullock said. "It's not going to change my situation."
There has been a lot of pressure on investigators by public officials to reveal what they know about how the fire began.
The briefing and news conference for Wednesday was scheduled and then canceled. Now it is on again for Wednesday afternoon at the Colorado Springs Police Headquarters. CBS4 will have a crew on hand.
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