Fires in Colorado

[PrietoBass]

Denverite & Colorado native here. Growing up, my family & I went to Colorado Springs once a year on vacation, and one of the highlights each trip was our visit to the Flying W Ranch, a real working ranch with a replica of an old west town, a narrow gauge train and authentic (and tasty) chuckwagon suppers. I was devasted to learn this morning that it has been burned to the ground. A piece of my childhood, gone with the wind...

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That's sad. I've been there. Great food and show. Hope they can rebuild it.

 

[Demon_Hunter]

Do you know what's happening around Mountain Shadows? I used to live in Spring Canyon Heights right on GoG.

Unfortunately it looks like mountain shadows got hit bad. Estimated at 346 houses burned and 1 fatality.


Here's are some aerial shots from above

http://wark.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Waldo-wildfire/G0000pfdsjLJOg7I/I0000hhIhP4pMlg4

This is from Google Earth of what it looked like before

 

[metron]

The loss is so tragic. Those aerial photos are surreal. I live about an hour from any of the fires but the entire sky was hazy orange red today. The dry heat is relentless this year.

 

[PrietoBass]

To think that I used to bike up and down Flying W, Centennial and Woodmen all the time... I can still see things in my mind as if I was there.

Sad indeed.

 

[MakiSupaStar]

Man. I've been following this. Stay safe folks. Positive vibes from out here in SoCal. We know fires too.

 

[Chef FourString]

Ya'll be safe up there, man. That's scary stuff.

 

[David Jayne]

Man. Bad stuff. I do hope you all can stay safe.

 

[DaDrew2112]

Sincerely wish everyone the best of luck. No one expects a tragedy like this, I'd be devastated.

 

[nortonrider]

Sincerely wish everyone the best of luck. No one expects a tragedy like this, I'd be devastated.

Sadly, it is (was expected).

A Forest fire burning your house down is always a risk when you choose to build your house in the forest!
Everyone that lived there knew of the potential devastation, yet chose to live there anyway.

I'm an insensitive dick... right?
not so fast........ I live in the same Rocky Mountains and I know all too well what fire can (and does) do. I came real close to losing my home during the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002.

With the amount of beetle killed pine trees, combined with the very dry conditions, a spark and some wind is all that is needed.

The real sad thing is that even though there is a fire ban in effect for the entire State, during the upcoming 4th of July holiday.
Some moron IS going to light a campfire and some idiot IS going to shoot off their fireworks causing more fires.

 

[sandmangeck]

Terrible.

Where did your hairs go?

 

[sandmangeck]

Also, I hate to be negative in a positive light, but wildfires are actually good for the soil..

 

[PrietoBass]

Everyone that lived there knew of the potential devastation, yet chose to live there anyway.

Allow me a few comments here, nortonrider...

By this same line of reasoning, people on the West Coast know of the potential devastation that the Big One (earthquake) will bring, yet they live there anyway. People on Tornado Alley know of the potential devastation that an F-5 will bring, yet they live there anyway. People out East know know what a Nor'easter can do... people down South know what a hurricane/storm can do... People have seen what tsunamis can do, yet the most populated areas (at least here in the US) are near our coastlines.

People know what politicians can do, yet... no, let's not go there.

Life is full of risks. We all know that we are going to die eventually, but yet we choose to go on living.

No one expects those things which we know for certain are coming, and when they do come, we still regard them as unexpected tragedies nonetheless. I don't think we as human beings do always what is logical.

My heart goes out to those that have lost their homes, and especially those that have lost more than just material things, regardless of the decisions that led to their loss.

The real sad thing is that even though there is a fire ban in effect for the entire State, during the upcoming 4th of July holiday.
Some moron IS going to light a campfire and some idiot IS going to shoot off their fireworks causing more fires.

I used to think the moron population in Colorado was high... I would encounter them every now and then out on the roads. Then I moved to Florida (running for cover). Trust me, Colorado is fine.

 

[Pilgrim]

There has been debate for some years about the "best" way to manage forests. One camp says to let naturally occurring wildfires run their course (minus inhabited areas), the other prefers to suppress them. The latter policy has been dominant for the past 50 years. I suspect some blended approach will emerge.

Good news for us here in Fort Collins...the High Canyon fire should be completely contained by Monday, and most evacuations are canceled and people have been allowed to return, although warned to be ready to leave again on short notice.

I believe the count on lost homes here is 259 over the course of nearly three weeks - but strangely enough, the Colorado Springs (Waldo Canyon) fire took almost 100 more homes in less than 48 hours.

That photo of the Durango area file is serious! I'm also hearing about new fires in other states.

This is going to be a long, hot summer with plenty of fire action throughout the west. The national forecast I saw earlier shows about 2/3 of the US with temps at or over 100 degrees for the coming week.