Firefighters' Kids to Benefit After Colo. Eagle Lake Camps Saved

Navigators officials are so grateful of those who protected Eagle Lake Camps from the raging Waldo Canyon fire that the Colorado Springs organization is planning to offer scholarships to the firefighters' children.

"We don't yet know what that will look like," said Gary Cantwell, the Navigators' chief communications officer. "The firefighters protected the camp very strongly. The beauty of the camp is still in tact."

Cantwell said the idea for thanking crews with scholarships sprouted Sunday as camp officials took an escorted tour to assess the damage.

A firefighter, who was using the camp as a staging area last week, agreed that the mountain setting is "a beautiful place" and added, " I need to get my kids here."

"So we decided, yes, we've got to get his kids here," Cantwell said.

Firefighters kept the Waldo Canyon flames away from the central 100 acres of camp and only the outer fringe of the 330 acres owned by the Navigators saw damage. A cabin, two small sheds and a pair of tent platforms were destroyed out of the "dozens of buildings" on the land, according to reports from the tour.

One former Eagle Lake counselor said she and a friend have called the saving of the camp "one of the biggest miracles we've ever seen."

Allison Daniell, 29, worked at the camp from 2003 to 2005 and again in 2009. She still works for the Navigators, mentoring teenagers. Daniell attended a meeting Friday for staff and their families. She said Jack McQueeney, executive director of Eagle Lake Camps, showed photos taken Thursday of a burned-out forest with the camp remaining a green oasis.

The Navigators decided to cancel the rest of the camps this summer because the camp remained under an evacuation order.

Eagle Lake opened this summer on June 4 and had 10 week-long programs scheduled through Aug. 17.

Cantwell said 600 campers were able to camp during the three weeks before the fire erupted near the Waldo Canyon trail off U.S. Highway 24.

About 1,400 campers, ages 8 to 18, received the bad news that their 2012 Eagle Lake experience was canceled.

Some would-be campers received a full refund, Cantwell said, while others transferred their registration to 2013.

"It's still a beautiful place and will be ready to be in operation next year," Cantwell said, noting that the Navigators has begun talks with the U.S. Forest Service to assess any lasting damage to the lake itself.

Other parents simply told the organization to keep their enrollment fee as a donation toward fire cleanup. They will repurchase enrollment if their kids want to attend camp in 2013, Cantwell said.

The Christian organization has also pointed parents to other camps in the Rocky Mountains that might have openings this year. The Navigators also offers day camps at Glen Eyrie that include activities and field trips. Glen Eyrie will reopen Friday with day camps commencing Monday.

Those interested in enrolling in any of the day camps can call 800-873-2453 or 719-272-7453.

Megan Dunham, who met her husband while working at Eagle Lake in 1993, feared the camp was lost and wrote about it online July 27 just one day after the Waldo Canyon fire destroyed 346 homes in western Colorado Springs.

"In the midst of the waiting, the praying, and the crying yesterday, I wanted to remember. I wanted my kids to remember," Dunham wrote. "I pulled out all of our family scrapbooks and laughed all afternoon. And cried. And remembered."

Eagle Lake wasn't lost, however, and Glen Eyrie, which saw no structural damage from the fire, was also fortunate. But that didn't numb any of the feelings that Dunham or any current Eagle Lake/Navigators staff felt after the fire.

"There is a sadness that we have with the whole community," Cantwell said, "even as we breathe a sigh of relief."

Contact Matt Steiner at 636-0362 or follow him on Twitter @gazsteiner.