Pretty bad start to the summer with wildfires out here in Colorado and the surrounding states. Below average snowfall in the winter, no rain, temperatures above 100 lead to perfect conditions for fires to thrive. The high park fire in northern Colorado is one of the large ones thats making headlines. Many other smaller ones are burning. Arson is being suspected in a few cases. Another one was started because some idiots were shooting at propane tanks.
A fire started about 12 miles away from me on Saturday in western Colorado Springs, pretty close to the heavily populated area of the city itself. It has since begun moving west away from the city and into the mountains.
Here's a few pictures I took yesterday.
The moon on Sunday night as it passed behind the fire.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
Thunderstorm with lightning and high winds caused the Waldo Canyon Fire to spread over a ridge, into western Colorado Springs. Dozens of homes lost. Mutual aid from 100 miles north and south of Colo. Springs enroute.
Listening online, it sounds like they are losing whole blocks of houses.
Today was nothing short of horrific. It hit the fan really really fast, seemingly beyond what any of the fire fighters expected. If you look at my first picture, the smoke plume is headed north,and thats how it has been for the last few days with the fire on the other side of the ridge and flames not really visible.
Tuesday afternoon strong winds kicked up with gusts up to 65 mph and changed direction into the southeast. This blew the fire and the smoke into Colorado Springs. The smoke plume started getting heavier. I could start to see flame coming over the ridge and down towards the city, but couldn't really tell how much due to the heavy smoke. The smoke got heavier and turned organge/red color and covered most of the city, looked very end of the worldish.
Shortly after all this started, massive mandatory evacuations started, roads were being closed and reports came in about houses being on fire. I live north of the fire, due to the heavy smoke, I couldn't really see the extent. I did hear the fire fighters had to move their defensive line 6 times in 30-45 minutes. This thing just started spreading aggressively. It wasn't until pictures started rolling in a few hours later that I could see the extent of what was going on and it was much worse than I had orginally thought. This picture right here shows what was going on:
I have not heard any numbers on how many houses were burned. But from the pictures, it looks like quite a bit.
Fire has been moving north, but things seemed to have calmed down for now. Thought there is the glow of numerous hotspots on the mountains that are visible in the dark. Still 7-8 miles away from me, but I've got stuff packed up and am ready to leave if needed.
Colorado could really use a hurricane right about now.
What I'm going to hate about all this is all the "why didn't the firemen do more to save my home" and people looking to place blame for this. This was nothing more than another case of mother nature giving us a butt kicking.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
Quote: What I'm going to hate about all this is all the "why didn't the firemen do more to save my home" and people looking to place blame for this. This was nothing more than another case of mother nature giving us a butt kicking.
I'm in northern Colorado, and I've heard nothing like that, just praise and support for firefighters.
Very reminiscent of the fires we had in San Diego in years past. It sort of looks like a volcano erupted nearby. I remember standing outside our apartment one year, as smoldering leaves were raining down from the sky. Make sure you stay safe, and obey the evacuation orders.
Quote: I'm in northern Colorado, and I've heard nothing like that, just praise and support for firefighters.
Oh, you always get ONE person like that, and the press is sure to find them and make them the spokesperson for everyone else.
Although, they shouldn't mind too much ... all the cookie cutter homes that were burned in the San Diego fires were replaced with custom built mansions once all the insurance checks started coming in. My wife and I were joking that we should hose our house down in gasoline when we had to evacuate one year.
Quote: What I'm going to hate about all this is all the "why didn't the firemen do more to save my home" and people looking to place blame for this. This was nothing more than another case of mother nature giving us a butt kicking.
I'm in northern Colorado, and I've heard nothing like that, just praise and support for firefighters.
I haven't heard anything like this yet and hopefully I don't, but I have a feeling it will happen once the dust settles a bit.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
This thing is just out of control. Fire spreading in every direction, evacuation areas expanded all day long. Looks like part of the air force academy wooded area is on fire. I'm 1/4 mile outside of a preevacuation zone. Packed up and ready to go just in case. I'm still behind i-25, but if this thing jumps the freeway near me, my apartment complex is the first thing it'll hit.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
Advice from my husband, Colorado River Fire Crew, White River National Forest 1997-2003: stay safe, when they tell you to leave, leave. Don't try to stick it out by then, it may be too late. Possessions are replaceable, you are not. (good advice, even if it wasn't coming from someone who used to fight these fires out there.)
You can see the smoke from here. The other day you could see the huge plume of smoke and the pyrocumulous cloud the fires created from the local college.
Initial tally came in, 347 houses destroyed on Tuesday in a matter of hours. First death was found last night, a body found in the remains of a burnt home.
On the bright side, Thursday went better with minimal growth of the fire. If weather cooperates they might be able to start getting some control on this.
Thunderstorm with lightning and high winds caused the Waldo Canyon Fire to spread over a ridge, into western Colorado Springs. Dozens of homes lost. Mutual aid from 100 miles north and south of Colo. Springs enroute.
Listening online, it sounds like they are losing whole blocks of houses.
hope everything is ok in colorado. what is causing this drought? i've heard worst since '88.
in cleveland, it's like 91-95 all week, w no more than 40 percent chance of rain.
even 91, 95 and 99 weren't this bad...in 88 there were 35 days above 90; in '99 there was 17...is this a response to the wet summer we had last year?
I pray for rain but so far not anything...I can take the 91-95 temps if we're getting good precip.
Quote: Oh, you always get ONE person like that, and the press is sure to find them and make them the spokesperson for everyone else.
Not to change the subject, but this is right, I was at the " boo Couch's injury" game and think 2-3 out of 10 people, ( or was it cheer Couch's injury) , were doing it. ... That means 7-8 out of 10 were NOT ! 74,000 x 30% = enough
Here's a time lapse video that has been posted on youtube of the fire. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, the events of Tuesday start around the 6:30 mark.
Here's the direct link if you want to go to youtube.com to view in HD. Waldo Canyon time lapse
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
That's amazing footage. I'm fairly familiar with the area, I've been there a half dozen times. I don't think people realize how populated that area is.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
I took a look at some of the damage on Tuesday from some distant vantage points. It wasn't pretty. Several houses lie in ruin while a house across the street was untouched. I saw house with half the lawn was black, the other half was green. Several houses in a row were destroyed, while a childrens swing set in the backyard of one of the houses was completely intact.
One of the most emotional pictures I've seen out of this was from a newspaper photographer. Took a picture of a dead bird that tried to wedge itself between some rocks to escape the flames. The picture just shows the desperation of the situation.
The fire is now 90% contained and has not done much harm since last week. Interesting how a small thunderstorm is the difference between this fire being a non-story and a historic one.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
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