How does the reopening of Highway 13 affect the people influenced by the Lee Fire? Not only were people impacted, but animals and ranches as well. Many people had friends and family in this area. It was really tragic when the highways were shut down. Freshman Jackson Morby says, “The fire was affecting wildlife, farms, ranches, wild life hunting.” This incident impacted the people by incinerating trees, and many other forms of wildlife. People lost their homes and luckily no one has lost their life. 

With the Lee fire burning around 138,000 acres, controversy has been thrown into the mix. Freshman Ryan Napoleon says, “It’s really upsetting to a lot of the people that live in that community and that there has been a lot of controversy of how it’s being taken care of.” With Napoleon saying this, it created a different way of thinking of the Lee fire. With the fire getting so out of control it makes people really think, is the fire even being treated or being dealt with correctly? 

Although the fire was spread far across the land, Colorado Highway 13 started to reopen around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 16th. The Highway was opened with restrictions including a reduced speed limit down to 50 mph, and a prohibition of stopping as firefighters continue their work in the area, allowing for the easing of North-South traffic after firefighters increased containment on the wildfire. The Lee fire also became the 5th largest fire in Colorado history, making it one for the history books.