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On either June 22 or 23, the Waldo Canyon Fire ignited on U.S. forest land a few miles west of Colorado Springs. On June 26, it surged into the city, killing two people and destroying 345 homes. In print stories and blog posts between July 4 and Dec. 19, the Colorado Springs Independent delved into how city government responded to the fire — first as a threat, then as a crisis. Our findings suggest that an event city leaders have often described simply as unpredictably “epic” was actually made more dangerous and devastating by their own shortcomings of preparation and organization.
