Colorado wildfire worsens, forcing 7,000 more from homes
68 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Colorado's so-called Waldo Canyon fire sent a mushroom cloud of smoke nearly 20,000 feet into the air over Colorado Springs near Pikes Peak, whose breathtaking vistas from the summit helped inspire the song "America the Beautiful".
Closer to the blaze, which has been fanned by winds blowing into the Southern Rockies from the prairies to the east, trees were visibly twisting from the heat of the flames.
The latest evacuations brought the total number of people forced from their homes to about 12,000 as the blaze posed a renewed threat to hundreds of dwellings and appeared to have roared to within about a mile of the U.S. Air Force Academy grounds in Colorado Springs.
Operators of a famous cog railway that carries tourists up to Pikes Peak said the trains would remain shut down on Tuesday for a third straight day.
The highway that leads up to Pikes Peak has been closed since shortly after the fire erupted on Saturday, as has the popular Garden of the Gods, a picturesque park of tall, rocky spires and oddly balanced boulders.
Air tankers dropped fire retardant in the blaze's path to slow its advance, while firefighters on the ground battled to protect homes along a highway at the mountain's edge, including the upscale, gated community of Cedar Heights. No homes were reported burned, but the fire consumed a wooden tent platform.
"We're feeling pretty good that's the only thing we've lost given this monster we are dealing with," said Rob Deyerberg, a fire information officer.
The closures around Pikes Peak, billed as the world's second-most visited mountain after Japan's Mount Fuji, have drawn attention to the fire's negative impact on the tourism industry just at the start of the peak summer travel season.
After three days, the blaze has scorched an estimated 4,500 acres, and fire crews managed to carve containment lines around just 5 percent of its perimeter. The cause was still under investigation.
A recreation area belonging to the Air Force Academy was ordered evacuated due to its proximity to the fire, and all trails leading west of the school were closed, the base said.
'TRYING TO REMAIN OPTIMISTIC'
Despite the fresh evacuations, the town of Manitou Springs, which had been evacuated over the weekend, appeared to remain out of imminent danger after residents were allowed back on Sunday.
Pam Staley, 60, a Colorado Springs resident, said she was concerned about the health effects of thick smoke and soot on many of her elderly neighbors who live in older homes without air conditioning.
"They sleep with open windows, and when the wind shifts, in the middle of the night, they get sick," she said as she stood watching the blaze from a safe distance at a local high school. Their eyes are watering, they're coughing. I'm really, really worried about them."
The wildfire was one of about a dozen burning out of control around Colorado, including the much larger High Park Fire near Fort Collins, a university town north of Denver close to the Wyoming border.
"We're going to be continuing to have to deal with these fires for weeks to come," U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said. "We anticipate it's going to be a long fire season."
To the east of the Waldo Canyon blaze, a fast-moving prairie fire apparently sparked by a blowout on a passing vehicle torched 45,000 acres of grassland and ripped through the town of Last Chance, population 25.
The blaze destroyed 11 buildings including four homes before being contained.
The High Park Fire - the state's second-largest blaze on record and its most destructive ever - has consumed 87,250 acres in steep canyons since it was sparked by lightning two weeks ago. It is blamed for the death of a 62-year-old woman in her cabin and has destroyed 248 homes.
An estimated 4,300 people remain evacuated from their homes as that fire burns through grass, brush and Ponderosa pine.
In southwestern Colorado, the Weber Fire grew to 8,930 acres but firefighters held it back from the small town of Mancos, east of Mesa Verde National Park. Roughly 50 homes were evacuated, officials said.
Farther to the west, authorities said a body was found in the ashes of a house charred by Utah's fast-moving Wood Hollow Fire, marking the first fatality in a blaze that already has scorched more than 39,000 acres. Fresh evacuations were ordered there on Tuesday.
The Wood Hollow blaze had already burned an estimated 30 homes and killed 75 sheep between the rural communities of Fountain Green and Indianola.
Governor Gary Herbert, who toured the fire by helicopter on Monday, estimated the property losses so far at $7 million. No injuries have been reported, but Herbert said fire officials did use a helicopter to rescue some shepherds from the fire's path.[/QUOTE]
[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/27/us-usa-wildfires-idUSBRE85L1DD20120627]SOURCE[/url]
Surprised there have been no threads on this yet, but I really hope this isn't as bad as the California ones we had a while ago.
Yeah this fire is getting really bad right now. About a couple hours ago a bunch of smoke blew into the area where I live in northern Colorado Springs, felt like there was a dust storm blowing in. They're saying the fire should be contained by July 16th, but I really don't see it getting contained until after the 20th.
It's 100+ degrees every day, dry as hell, and windy too. Mother nature is a god damn bitch
Just got back from what's on the news right now, houses are burning up and the Flying W Ranch just burned down to. This is getting bad.
I feel like the fires are slowly closing in on Denver. Luckily the most we've had here is the smell of smoke
[QUOTE=Uber_Tofu;36509066]Just got back from what's on the news right now, houses are burning up and the Flying W Ranch just burned down to. This is getting bad.[/QUOTE]
Wish you luck, how far is the ranch from you?
[QUOTE=Dogchow33;36509119]Wish you luck, how far is the ranch from you?[/QUOTE]
The Ranch is about a 15-20 minute drive from me. I've already got my important stuff packed and my 72 hour plans ready just incase we're asked to evacuate.
[QUOTE=Uber_Tofu;36509141]The Ranch is about a 15-20 minute drive from me. I've already got my important stuff packed and my 72 hour plans ready just incase we're asked to evacuate.[/QUOTE]
Well shit. It could spread fairly quickly, I've had a wildfire incident down in Texas as well but no need to evacuate, it did spread pretty quickly in my area but it was put out fairly quick as well. I would expect to be ready to leave in a couple days, maybe one or three.
Yeah, I was just out in Colorado a week ago doing some climbing. God, I can't wait to get out of the East. Anyways I hope things get better out there soon. Not much they can really do though.
Things are looking bad. It's a shame, but the state needs this. For decades, we've put out fires in early stages, preventing the natural order where old, dead vegetation is cleared away. And we're paying for it now.
But this state needs a big fire.
[IMG]http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2012/0626/20120626_084116_colorado_wildfire_waldo_canyon_inside.jpg[/IMG]
Fuck, I think my cousins might have been evacuated
Last I heard it was like 70 miles away from them, but they live close to Pike's Peak
[QUOTE=Ridge;36509383]Things are looking bad. It's a shame, but the state needs this. For decades, we've put out fires in early stages, preventing the natural order where old, dead vegetation is cleared away. And we're paying for it now.
But this state needs a big fire.
[IMG]http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2012/0626/20120626_084116_colorado_wildfire_waldo_canyon_inside.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Are you dumb or something? There's people that maintain the forests so that you don't need the natural fires. Colorado doesn't need homes burned down.
[QUOTE=Bound;36509399]Are you dumb or something? There's people that maintain the forests so that you don't need the natural fires. Colorado doesn't need homes burned down.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely nothing has been done about the beetle kill. There are few people that clean up the forests, and very little ground gets covered. Why do you think the state has been going up like a match stick? Millions of tons of dead vegetation just laying there.
Forest fires are the natural order. They return the nutrients to the soil and clean up the scraps. I'm sorry people are losing their homes, but it's a risk they take. And that is why they have insurance.
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like 10 miles away from it uhhhhh
byebye guys
Air Force Academy an hour and a half ago...
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/6IG8Z.jpg[/IMG]
My sister and her family might have to evacuate. The fire is 10 miles from their house, and ash and embers are falling in their yard.
USAF Academy and NORAD currently evacuating. West Colorado Springs is being evacuated while East Colorado Springs is on alert. Shits bad.
Fires are getting pretty bad up in Wyoming as well. This whole area of the country is fucked.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36509573]USAF Academy and NORAD currently evacuating. West Colorado Springs is being evacuated while East Colorado Springs is on alert. Shits bad.[/QUOTE]
Kind of amused that a military bunker designed to take a hit from a nuclear missile is evacuating for a forest fire...
[QUOTE=Ridge;36509620]Kind of amused that a military bunker designed to take a hit from a nuclear missile is evacuating for a forest fire...[/QUOTE]
The N.B.C. systems are really sensitive, and I suppose they don't want to use the filters unless there was an actual strike against it, so they might as well evacuate.
[QUOTE=Ridge;36509383]Things are looking bad. It's a shame, but the state needs this. For decades, we've put out fires in early stages, preventing the natural order where old, dead vegetation is cleared away. And we're paying for it now.
But this state needs a big fire.
[IMG]http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2012/0626/20120626_084116_colorado_wildfire_waldo_canyon_inside.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
there's so many dumb things in this post i dont know where to start
My house is all smokey.
I'm ~18 miles away from the closest one though.
The Flying W ranch, plus several neighborhoods, are completely lost. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated.
Shit's real bad.
[t]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3803707/IMG_4350.JPG[/t]
[QUOTE=NightmareXx;36509711]there's so many dumb things in this post i dont know where to start[/QUOTE]
lots of little-medium fires are better than one huge one.
This is beginning to sound like the Forest Fire of the Decade. [B][I]Or possibly the whole Century?[/I][/B]
Heard Garden of the Gods has been evacuated. I really hope it doesn't get majorly affected by the fire, it really is one of the most beautiful places in the Springs.
[img]http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/garden-of-the-gods-colorado-springs-col240.jpg[/img]
Hope things improve for everyone there, I love Colorado (and plan to live there someday).
Glad I visited Colorado before this all started back in early June. Really is a beautiful state and I hope the fire is contained soon, though from what I've heard that probably won't happen.
Seeing as how the temperatures recently have been record-breaking and Colorado is dry as shit, they probably won't be contained for a while. I really hope Colorado Springs/Fort Collins come out ok, they are beautiful cities
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