The entire state of Colorado, it almost seems, is on fire. The cities of Colorado Springs and Boulder are both threatened. And there’s still a fire burning just outside of Fort Collins.
Here’s a look at fire-related front pages from the region…
—
DENVER POST
Denver, Colo.
Circulation: 401,120
An awesome photo of the Waldo Canyon fire by the Post‘s Helen H. Richardson. And an awesome headline.
My only complaint here are the skyboxes. I seriously doubt with these horrific fires going on, that “roll your own sushi” is going to result in any more single-copy sales.
However, note the little ad at upper right. If the paper yanks the two skybox promos, what happens to that little ad?
—
GAZETTE
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Circulation: 70,021
The Colorado Springs Gazette has the same problem: A tiny little ad in the upper right, which seems to conflict with the headline: “Firestorm of epic proportions.”
Epic, perhaps. But not epic enough to knock the ad off the top of the page.
The lead photo is by staffer Jerilee Bennett.
—
DAILY CAMERA
Boulder, Colo.
Circulation: 25,207
Boulder itself is threatened by what’s called the “Flagstaff” fire. You’ll see it downpage on today’s front. The lead story is the tragedy in Colorado Springs.
The lead picture is by R.J. Sangosti of the Denver Post.
Again, notice an ad and three refers atop the page. With horrific news like this, you’d think papers would have a way of dumping these items in order to provide a suitable page-one mix.
—
CHIEFTAIN
Pueblo, Colo.
Circulation: 41,428
In Pueblo, we see that same Helen H. Richardson photo from the front of today’s Denver Post, but cropped slightly differently. And we also see a headline invoking the word “epic.”
Downpage is a story about how local firefighters are pitching in to fight the Colorado Springs fire.
—
DURANGO HERALD
Durango, Colo.
Circulation: 8,045
In Durango, the focus today was on the “Weber” fire, about 20 miles west of town, in the southwest corner of the state.
The lead photo is by staffer Isiah Branch-Boyle.
Two side notes…
- Note the story in the bottom left: Fourth-of-July fireworks plans are canceled in some cities but no word yet in others. With all the fires erupting across Colorado, how can there be any doubt about not cancelling fireworks shows? What’s the holdup out there?
- Note the tint box at lower right: Archeologists are pitching in to fight the fire. The headline reads, “Indiana Jones helps with wildfires, too.” Amusing. But unless Harrison Ford is involved, I’d question that one.
—
BILLINGS GAZETTE
Billings, Mont.
Circulation: 39,405
In Billings, Mont., a fire burned out of control near the town of Roundup.
The terrifying lead picture was by staffer Larry Mayer.
—
TIMES-NEWS
Twin Falls, Idaho
Circulation: 18,244
In Twin Falls, Idaho, a fire south of the town of Kimberly burned farms but no homes, the Times-News reported.
The picture was by staffer Ashley Smith.
—
COLORADOAN
Fort Collins, Colo.
Circulation: 19,864
And, of course, let’s not forget a paper we’ve talked about several times here in the blog, the Fort Collins Coloradoan. The High Park fire just west of Fort Collins has burned more than 87,000 acres and 257 homes, the paper reports today.
But lead art today is actually of yet another fire in the area: In Estes Park, in fact. The stats up top and the off-lead at right are about the High Park fire, which has been burning since June 9.
For those of you who missed our earlier post, here’s a quick glance through Fort Collins’ presentation of this fire. From left:
- Sunday, June 10
- Monday, June 11
- Tuesday, June 12
- Wednesday, June 13
- Thursday, June 14
- Friday, June 15
- Saturday, June 16
- Sunday, June 17
- Monday, June 18
- Tuesday, June 19
- Wednesday, June 20
- Thursday, June 21
- Friday, June 22
Here are the two nicest pages of the past couple of weeks, in my opinion. On the left — from Saturday, June 23 — is a huge picture of cars heading down an alternate route, due to highway closures. A wall of smoke looms in the background. The photo is by staffer V. Richard Haro.
On the right is last Sunday, June 24. The labeled aerial photo is by staffer Sam Norblett.
And here are…
- Monday June 25
- Tuesday, June 26
- And, once again, today’s front
That’s some mighty fine visual journalism by editor Josh Awtry and his folks in Fort Collins and his genius of a designer Colin Smith, operating out of the Gannett Design Studio in Phoenix, Ariz.
Again, read more about their work here.
—
All of these front pages are from the Newseum. Of course.
