New research has linked wildfire smoke exposure to higher rates of dementia, reproductive health issues and lung and heart disease, and forest service employees say the iconic, red fire retardant slurry dropped out of planes has been linked to thousands of fish kills.

“There are hundreds of gases that are emitted from wildfire smoke, some of them in very, very small quantities,” National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Rebecca Hornbrook said. “Some — like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides — are emitted in higher quantities, but some of those smaller quantity gases are actually even more toxic.”

Short-term effects of wildfire smoke

“Everyone can be impacted by wildfire smoke,” said Colleen Reid, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies the health impacts of wildfire smoke. “…We see increases in health impacts within one day of high smoke exposure.”

Normal symptoms when smoke is heavy in the air include coughing, shortness of breath, headaches, tiredness, chest pain and itchy and watery eyes, Reid said. Emergency room visits and hospitalizations for respiratory problems also go up when smoke is active.

Mild symptoms often go away within a day or two of smoke clearing from the area, according to Reid.

In addition to smoke, wildfires also leave behind ash that can irritate the lungs, eyes, nose and skin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As residents clean up areas impacted by a wildfire, they should wear protective clothing and goggles and wash off any ash that gets on their skin, eyes or mouth as soon as possible, according to the CDC.

Researchers exploring long-term health impacts of smoke

“We know a lot about the short-term health impacts of wildfire smoke exposure, we know less about long-term effects,” Reid said.

According to Reid and David González — an assistant professor of environment health sciences at the University of California Berkeley who works with Colorado researchers to determine the long-term impacts of wildfire smoke exposure — recent studies have linked wildfire smoke exposure to increased cases of the flu, decreases in lung function, and higher rates of depression, anxiety and dementia.

The increase in influenza cases was first noticed after a bad wildfire season several years ago, and researchers believe that exposure to wildfire smoke may have made people’s lungs more susceptible to infection when exposed to the virus, Reid said.

According to González, wildfires also impact cardiovascular health — smoke can trigger heart attacks and strokes, worsen heart failure, cause abnormal heart rhythms or exacerbate pre-existing heart disease — and reproductive health — smoke increases the risk of birth defects, miscarriage and infertility in both men and women.

Reid said people can start seeing health impacts — both short-term and long-term — after just one day of high smoke exposure.

Sometimes, smoke from fires farther away can cause more significant health impacts on communities than fires nearby, according to a recent study from Colorado State University.

Researchers believe that’s more likely due to changes in behavior than the distance of the smoke itself, Reid said. People who see the fire or smell the smoke may be more likely to take proactive and protective measures than people farther away from the burn site.

While how far the smoke travels depends on the wind, weather and how high the smoke is in the atmosphere, researchers are seeing an increase in air pollution across the world, even in places where wildfires are uncommon or non-existent, González said. Smoke can be traveled to states or even countries away.

“If there is smoke, try to stay indoors with windows and doors closed,” Reid said. “Wear an N95 or KN95 mask when outdoors and try to time your outdoor activities to when the air is cleanest.”

Reid said people should use air cleaners in indoor places and frequently replace filters on air cleaners and air conditioning units — the smoke can clog up the filters and prevent them from helping.

“There’s so much more work to be done here,” González said. “This isn’t the end of the story.”

Health, environmental impacts of fire retardant

Wildfire retardants contain about 85% water, 10% ammonium phosphate fertilizer and 5% minor ingredients — including a colorant to help pilots see where the slurry has already been dropped — according to former U.S. Forest Service employee Andy Stahl.

“It’s bad for the environment when it’s dumped into water because the ammonium phosphate turns into ammonia and ammonia is highly toxic to fish,” Stahl said. The former U.S. Forest Service employee currently serves as the executive director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. A single drop of fire retardant in a stream can be lethal to fish and other aquatic organisms.

Under “very specific conditions,” the fertilizer may poison animals that have eaten contaminated crops or drank water with retardant in it, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

However, as long as people aren’t standing under the retardant as it’s dropped, the mixture hasn’t shown any signs of long-term health impacts on humans, Stahl said.

The ammonia-based fire retardant will sting if it gets into cuts or scratches, or if it comes into contact with chapped or burned skin, according to the U.S. Forest Service. People should wash any skin that comes into contact with the slurry with water and soft soap, before using a hand cream to avoid dryness and cracking.

If retardant gets dropped on homes, residents should clean off the building as soon as possible, Boulder fire officials said. However, the retardant-covered homes should be safe to stay in until they can be cleaned.

The group filled every inch of space, crowded in a semi-circle near the bus stop on Colfax Avenue and Garfield Street — one of five locations from which police removed signs.

By 10 a.m., the sidewalk was overflowing with people pressing against each other, offering support through hands placed on backs and shoulders. The only gap in the crowd was a microphone in the center that speakers took turns with, offering support for the city and condemnations for the people who put up the signs the morning before.

“Out of many, we are one,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, addressing the crowd accumulated on the sidewalk Friday. “We are one Denver, we are one Colorado, we are one America. … There is no place for hate in Colorado.”

Less than a day before the rally, Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis posted a photo of the signs screwed into the pole of that bus stop.

One white sign read “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus. Kamala’s migrants sit in the front.” Another yellow caution sign on the same pole warned riders of “Kamala’s illegals,” with imagery of people running supposed to signify immigrants crossing the border.

Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said a total of seven signs were removed from five bus stops along Colfax in the metro area  — three in Denver and two in Aurora. He said all of the signs had been placed by 7:30 a.m. Thursday and that the women who had been seen carrying a stepladder near one of the signs likely were removing them.

“The signs that were posted were absolutely atrocious,” 43-year-old Denver resident MiDian Shofner said. “It was full of racism, it was full of dehumanization, and I wanted to stand in a space where we could collectively and strongly say that we don’t accept this.”

When Shofner first saw the images of the signs circulating social media and group chats of city leaders Thursday, she said she was disgusted this was so normalized.

“I say that it’s normalized because I wasn’t shocked,” Shofner said. “I wasn’t shocked that this happened, but I was disgusted. … These bus stops are used by our children to get to school. There are children that saw those signs yesterday.”

After coordinating with Denver police and transportation officials to get the signs removed Thursday morning, Denver City Councilwomen Lewis and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez quickly moved to organize the rally, wanting to offer a place for the community to gather and push back against the racist messages.

“History, unfortunately, continues to repeat itself,” Lewis said. “We need to take a serious pause as a nation and ask if this is who we are, if this is who we want to be, or if we are going to come  together to do the necessary work to eradicate this kind of hatred.”

Lewis and Gonzales-Gutierrez — alongside Colorado State House representatives Jennifer Bacon, Leslie Herod and Javier Mabrey and other community activists — spoke at the rally Friday.

“We will not go back,” Herod said to the crowd. “We will not let them divide us. This is who we are — we stand together every single day, including today and moving forward.”

Shofner said she had hoped the elected officials who spoke at the rally would offer more concrete actions that attendees could take back to their communities, but found herself disappointed.

“I’m not saying that this was not a beautiful showing of community, this was absolutely beautiful and amazing,” Shofner said. “… Having the community come together and stand is right, and we have to be able to have something to do beyond that.”

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Officers responded to reports of a crash near South Clinton Street and East Alameda Avenue early Thursday morning, according to a 12:36 a.m. statement from the Denver Police Department.

The intersection is just north of the Windsor Gardens Community Center and northeast of Windsor Lake.

One car was involved in the crash, but paramedics took two people to the hospital with serious injuries, police said. Police did not specify if the second person involved in the crash was a passenger or a pedestrian.

The crash remains under investigation.

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“I wish I could say I were surprised, but in a year when a Black woman could become POTUS, those with hate in their heart are going to coordinate these kinds of atrocious, expensive campaigns to stir division,” Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said in a statement on X.

The first Denver sign was reported around 5 a.m. Thursday by a bus driver on the pole of a bus stop near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Oneida Street, according to a news release from Regional Transportation District. The two other signs in Denver were found at Colfax’s intersections with Garfield Street, near St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and with Yosemite Street.

Around 8:20 a.m. Thursday, one man in Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood spotted two white women putting up the sign at the bus stop at Colfax and Garfield.

“It was one of those things where you know something is out of place, but you don’t know what’s going on,” Congress Park resident Greg Bell said.

Bell said he passed the two women — who were carrying a white stepladder and trash bags he believes were holding the signs — as he made his way into a nearby grocery store. Minutes later, he saw the pair setting up the stepladder in front of the bus stop and one woman climbing onto it while holding a white, metal sign.

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas on Friday said all the signs had been posted by 7:30 a.m. so it was more likely the women Bell saw were removing the signs.

Photos posted by Lewis show the signs screwed into the pole of that bus stop.

One white sign reads “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus. Kamala’s migrants sit in the front.” Another yellow caution sign on the same pole warns riders of “Kamala’s illegals,” with imagery of people running that is supposed to signify immigrants crossing the border.

The caution sign mimics real road signage that was posted until 2018 in California, warning drivers near the San Diego border to watch for migrants running across the freeway.

An Instagram account linked to Sabo — a right-wing street artist known for controversial art criticizing progressive policies and candidates — posted photos of the three Denver signs and a fourth at the intersection of Nome Street and East Colfax Avenue in Aurora.

That intersection is near an Aurora apartment complex recently shut down for city health and building code violations, uprooting hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.

The post on the Instagram account that links to Sabo’s UNSAVORYAGENTS website references the apartment closure, standing by claims from building ownership that a Venezuelan gang took over the complex. Aurora police and city officials have repeatedly denied the claims.

“The recent appearance of racist signs in Denver is deeply troubling and does not reflect the values of our city,” the Denver City Council said in an emailed statement Thursday. “… We stand with all residents in condemning these acts and reaffirm our commitment to building a community where everyone feels safe, valued and heard.”

RTD officials said similar signs had appeared recently at bus stops in Chicago and that Colorado officials were connecting with other agencies across the county to “assess the magnitude of the coordinated racist activity.” The Instagram account linked to Sabo includes an Aug. 21 picture of a similar sign the caption states was posted at a bus stop outside the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention was happening.

Shortly before the Legislature ended its property tax-focused special session Thursday, two Denver lawmakers decried the signs from the state House floor.

“What I think is important is that we confront our history and note that if any of us care to say that we have moved forward, that all of us demonstrate in standing here … that this is hate, and that it’s unacceptable,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat and the House’s assistant majority leader. “We don’t know who put these up, and so we don’t know who’s part of the problem. We know that we cannot continue to allow people to believe that this is acceptable or allow people to believe that they can grow power from posting signs like this.”

RTD officials worked with Denver law enforcement to remove all the reported signs and are investigating each of the incidents..

“RTD strongly condemns the hateful, discriminatory message portrayed by the signs,” transportation officials wrote in the release. “There is no place for racism or discrimination at RTD or within the communities we serve … nor should such vile messaging be tolerated or supported by anyone.”

Anyone who sees unauthorized signs or suspicious behavior at RTD bus stops should call Transit Police Dispatch at 303-299-2911, text 303-434-9100 or submit an anonymous report using RTD’s Transit Watch app.

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Updated at 1:52 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, 2024: This article was updated to include new information about what two women seen by a witness with a stepladder near one of the posted signs were doing.

Across the state, Thursday temperature highs will be several degrees below normal for the end of August, NWS forecasters said.

Denver will see highs around 83 degrees Thursday, 2 degrees below the 85-degree average for Aug. 29, according to NWS records.

Out on the Eastern Plains, temperatures are expected to hover around 78 degrees — 5 degrees below the average Aug. 29 temperature of 83 degrees on the plains, NWS forecasters said.

Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms will rumble over the Eastern Plains throughout Thursday morning, largely clearing out by noon, forecasters said.

“Only an isolated shower or storm may redevelop in the mountains and foothills late this afternoon,” forecasters said in a hazardous weather outlook. “Temperatures will be cooler today, with a taste of fall tonight.”

The fall-like weather will disappear over the weekend as temperatures climb back into the high-80s and low-90s, forecasters said.

Hot and dry summer weather is expected to remain through Wednesday and critical fire weather conditions may develop on Sunday and Monday for the Eastern Plains, according to the hazardous weather outlook.

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Two people and their pets were evacuated from the burning home — 8043 West Polk Place in unincorporated Jefferson County near Littleton — around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to South Metro Fire Rescue.

The fire was initially reported around 1:20 a.m., according to PulsePoint records.

By the time fire crews arrived, the back of the home was completely engulfed in flames, fire officials said.

The fire was under control by 2 a.m., but videos posted by South Metro Fire Rescue show the charred roof, walls and interior. In multiple sections, the video shows only support beams left standing.

No one was injured, and the two home occupants refused medical assistance after being checked out by paramedics on-scene, fire officials said.

West Metro Fire Rescue, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Arapahoe Rescue Patrol also responded to the early morning fire.

The American Red Cross of Colorado helped temporarily rehome the two residents and their pets, fire officials said.

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Around 11:30 a.m. Monday, Boulder County sheriff’s officials received a call about a man who had failed to return from his camping trip in Indian Peaks Wilderness, according to a Wednesday news release from the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s officials said the camper — an unidentified 36-year-old man — was supposed to return from his camping trip on Monday. When he didn’t check in or show up, family members reported him missing.

The missing man’s car was found in the parking lot of Brainard Lake, prompting Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services to initiate a search, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.

Based on reports from the family about the hiker’s plans and using information from the man’s Garmin GPS device, search and rescue crews — including ground searchers, dog teams and a helicopter — combed the surrounding area.

Around 5:30 p.m. Monday, search teams found a dead body near Lake Isabelle — at the base of Shoshoni Peak — who is believed to be the missing camper, sheriff’s officials said.

“Due to the remote location and technical terrain, it was unsafe to conduct the recovery operation that night,” sheriff’s officials stated Thursday.

Rescuers from the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and a helicopter from the Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control returned Tuesday to recover the man’s body and took him to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office, according to sheriff’s officials.

The coroner’s office will identify the man and release the cause and manner of death at a later date. Sheriff’s officials said they don’t currently believe his death was suspicious.

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One of the cars ran a red light and crashed into the other, the Aurora Police Department said in a statement on social media. The car may also have been speeding.

Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, Aurora officers responded to reports of a crash near East 40th Avenue and Peña Boulevard, police said.

Paramedics took five unidentified adults to the hospital — two with serious or life-threatening injuries and three with minor injuries — police said.

The crash shut down all lanes of East 40th Avenue and Peña Boulevard for multiple hours Wednesday morning for the crash investigation and clean-up, police said.

As of 6:30 a.m., Peña Boulevard had reopened but East 40th Avenue remained closed.

This is a developing story. 

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One hiker was left behind on the mountain summit, stranded as strong storms passed through the area, buffeting him with freezing rain and high winds that caused him to fall dozens of times while attempting to escape the mountain, according to Chaffee County Search and Rescue South officials.

The 15 hikers were on a work retreat and left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise Friday morning, with one group attempting to reach the summit and another ascending the mountain’s saddle and returning from there, search and rescue officials said in a statement on social media.

“In what might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks, one member of their party was left to complete his final summit push alone,” search and rescue officials said.

The man reached the peak of Mount Shavano around 11:30 a.m. but, when he turned to descend the mountain, became disoriented when he found that the group had picked up the belongings being used as trail markers as they hiked down before him, according to search and rescue officials.

He tried to make his way down the mountain, but he quickly got turned around and found himself in the steep boulder and scree field on the northeast slopes toward Shavano Lake, search and rescue officials said. He sent his location to the coworkers already descending and further down the mountain, who informed him that he was on the wrong route and that he had to climb back up the slope to find the correct trail.

The abandoned hiker finally reached the correct trail around 3:30 p.m. and texted his coworkers that he was back on course when a strong storm passed through the area with freezing rains and high winds, pushing him back off course and causing him to lose his cell phone signal, search and rescue officials said.

After hours of waiting, the 14 coworkers who had descended the mountain without their final hiker called Chaffee County Search and Rescue South and teams — including two “hasty” teams and a drone pilot — were deployed to search the mountain around 9 p.m.

“The concept of a hasty team is an initial response team of two or more well-trained, self-sufficient and highly mobile searchers and/or rescuers whose primary responsibility is to check those areas most likely to produce a subject first,” according to La Plata County Search and Rescue. The teams are usually familiar with the terrain and able to search the area quickly and efficiently.

Working from the man’s last known location, teams focused on clearing the trail and drainage areas.

During the night, the high winds and freezing rain made reaching the summit unsafe and presented many difficulties for the drone operator, search and rescue officials said. A helicopter team also searched from above but was unable to find the man.

Around 9 a.m. Saturday, crews from El Paso County Search and Rescue, Fremont Search and Rescue, the Western Mountain Rescue Team, Chaffee County Search and Rescue North, Park County Search and Rescue, Teller County Search and Rescue, Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, Division of Fire Prevention and Control Cañon Helitack and Colorado Search and Rescue joined in the manhunt.

As teams began entering the field for a large search effort Saturday morning, the missing hiker regained enough cell service to call 911, search and rescue officials said. The man was found above the North Fork drainage, in a gully below Espirit Point. He told search and rescue officials that he had fallen at least 20 times on the steep slopes during the storm and, after the last fall, was unable to get back up.

The 10 agencies in the field worked to extract the man from the gully and — after stabilizing and evaluating the hiker — transported the hiker to the hospital for further care. The full extent of the man’s injuries was not available Tuesday.

“This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911,” search and rescue officials said. “Though he was located in a tertiary search area, it would have been some time before teams made it to that location on their own.”

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Paul Peavey, a 57-year-old Doberman breeder from Idaho Springs, was reported missing Wednesday and his body was found by a search party of friends and family on Saturday, according to the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s officials initially reported that “many” Doberman puppies were missing from Peavey’s property, and on Monday confirmed that up to 10 were unaccounted for.

Finding the missing puppies could be key to solving Peavey’s homicide, sheriff’s officials said Monday.

According to sheriff’s officials, the missing puppies may have been sold through social media sites or other means as early as Tuesday, Aug. 20.

All of Peavey’s dogs are microchipped, sheriff’s officials said. Anyone who purchased a Doberman puppy in the central Colorado area within the last week should visit a veterinary clinic, animal shelter, pet store or police department to check their new dog for a microchip and contact the sheriff’s office by phone at 303-679-2393 or by email at admin@clearcreeksheriff.us.

Anyone who purchased a puppy through Peavey’s business — Elite European Dobermans — since June is also asked to contact the sheriff’s office, whether or not they received a puppy.

“This will help us determine exactly how many puppies are unaccounted for,” sheriff’s officials said.

The Clear Creek County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of Peavey’s death.

This is a developing story. 

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