March 10, 2022 | Categories: Mission Reports

Mission Reports: Crown Point Grand Cherokee

Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery went up inside the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar to recover a Grand Cherokee that got stuck in the snow after sliding off a road.

This mission took some coordination with the USFS as this entire burn scar is still off limits to the general public. CO 4×4 RNR had to get a special use permit to proceed with the vehicle recovery. The owner of the vehicle had to pass multiple signs indicating the forest was closed to all uses.

The area they accessed was also a seasonally closed route in the winter time anyway, but were able to get around the USFS seasonal gates due to work being done in the area from dozer lines and other power and phone line utility access gates still open for infrastructure repairs.

Given the nature of a burn area, trees are not a viable option to tie winch line redirects off to, so the team brought a pull pal with to use as a land anchor. Once the recovery was rigged, the actual winching back onto the road went relatively fast.

From there the team egressed out on the same fire line access and utility easement roads down to pavement and proceeded home.

We urge the offroading community and public to respect the road and forest closures in place. These are still very much needed so mitigation and repair crews can access the burn areas, assess the safety of the forest for public use, and return it to public recreation. Disregarding these closures can carry a steep fine per the special order still in place. “Violations of these prohibitions are punishable as a Class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both. (16 U.S.C. § 551 and 18 U.S.C §§ 3559 and 3571)”

For more information about the Cameron Peak Fire Closures, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices/?aid=60887

Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery

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