Anyone live in the Colorado Springs area?

Got a link? I can't find updated data. I have in laws in the area.

I grew up there and have friends who still live there. They've been posting photos on Facebook. Looks really bad. The Gazette is the local newspaper.

http://www.gazette.com/

My heart goes out to these folks.

Rambling memory: I lived in the SF Bay area during the big Oakland wildfire there (in which Maxine Hong Kingston--and likely other less famous writers--lost the only hard and computer copies of her just-completed book, ow.) and I've been in tornadoes and the Loma Prieta quake and floods and on erupting volcanoes. But there is nothing--and I mean nothing--like the visceral terror reaction I had when the smoke cloud drifted over the sun and turned the sky that odd yellow color. I didn't have to be told what it was. My hindbrain knew, and I had this crazy animal reaction to run, anywhere, fast, gogogogogogo. It's really something you have to experience, I guess, because I'm not doing the unthinking terror justice in my description--but giant fires are truly, truly terrifying.

My writing partner and her family evac'ed from the home they just bought last night.

I was just reading this news article about the fire. It's massive and horrific: 24 square miles, 65 mph winds, dry conditions, 32,000+ evacuated. My prayers go out for everyone there.

"This is a firestorm of epic proportions," Colorado Springs Fire chief Richard Brown said at a news conference late Tuesday.
"From the vantage point of a command post about 10 miles from the path of advancing flames," Reuters said, "the entire community of Mountain Shadows, a northwest subdivision, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow after dark."

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The article states that FEMA has authorized fed funds to fight the fires.

My sister has a home there but thankfully she's in Utah visiting family. Not that it's all that great here, we have a town only 30 minutes away going through pre-evacuation, with official evacuation expected by tonight.

It is hot and dry out here. We just underwent a pretty good thunderstorm last couple days, which in Utah means lots of lightning, no real rain. They're expecting another round in the next few days over the entire southwest with the same MO lots of lightning little rain, which could spawn quite a few more fires, especially with the immediate return of hot, dry, and windy conditions.

Hang on folks, it's going to be a very bad fire season.

I really feel for all those folks who've lost homes and who've evacuated their homes. I grew up in the foothills of S. CA and we had to leave many times due to fires. I remember sitting on the roof, as a tiny kid (not that old!) during the infamous Bel Air fire, w/ a garden hose in my hands, sparks flying around my head and burning embers landing nearby and squirting them w/ the hose. You never forget those things.

I had school mates who lost everything; we were lucky, but I had nightmares for a long time. It takes a long time to get the smell of smoke out of your brain, too.

I hope everyone here will be ok.

Bumping this thread, b/c the situation has grown worse w/ the loss of 350 homes

I hope and pray that all here are safe and sound as well as their families.

350 homes gone. it's the stuff of nightmares--s6

Adding another link, to a govt. website that has maps of all current fires: http://www.geomac.gov/index.shtml. Click on the geomac viewer, then pick a fire. The data comes from "incident intelligence sources, GPS data, infrared (IR) imagery from fixed wing and satellite platforms."

ColoradoGuy said:

Three of my friends that I know of have lost their homes. They lived in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, which is on the extreme western edge of the city.

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That's so sad, CG. The aerial shots I saw, last night on the news are heartbreaking. It reminds me of the San Diego fires a few years back; blocks of homes that were simply gone. It burned so very close to my Mom's house.

There doesn't seem to be an end in sight, and it appears it may be criminal, which gets me nuts! They're saying it's too dangerous for the FBI to begin any investigation.

I saw this on the News today. It looks really bad...

Any AWer who lives there, please check in and let us know you're ok.

Here in southeastern Utah, two nearby communities have had the elderly and young evacuated for health concerns due to the heavy smoke in the air. Doesn't look like the fires are going to hit either communities though it took out the mountain weigh station and few more distant communities are in danger. They're shutting off the water to all farms and ranches. Between the historic drought we're facing and all the fires there just isn't enough water. This will be a heavy blow to all those who depend on it for survival. They're leaving it on just long enough to get the current crop of alfalfa up so this year won't be a total loss for them.

It's so dry here that even the thistles and dandelions have died.

icerose said:

Here in southeastern Utah, two nearby communities have had the elderly and young evacuated for health concerns due to the heavy smoke in the air. Doesn't look like the fires are going to hit either communities though it took out the mountain weigh station and few more distant communities are in danger. They're shutting off the water to all farms and ranches. Between the historic drought we're facing and all the fires there just isn't enough water. This will be a heavy blow to all those who depend on it for survival. They're leaving it on just long enough to get the current crop of alfalfa up so this year won't be a total loss for them.

It's so dry here that even the thistles and dandelions have died.

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It's just so strange. I've been lucky enough to hear that -with the exception of a couple I know, a doctor and his wife - all my other friends are O.K. and coping, albeit worried in Colorado Springs.

To your point, it seems that recent weather is haywire. I'm in Florida where we had a system stall and just inundate us with rain for days and days. I remember droughts in Colorado well, but nothing like recent years. The dandelions are frying there while people here are cleaning up after flooding. It does seem that the weather patterns are more extreme than they used to be, and I do attribute it to climate change. . . .

There is also weak cyclonic activity stalling over Saskatchewan and Alberta causing some flooding and tornados, as well as flooding, landslides and washed-out roads in Interior BC.

The far north is experiencing some scorching temperatures with 35 Celsius (well above 90) being recorded there.

This crazy-ass heat is moving eastward, guys. The high today in my city was 108 degrees. Mailboxes melted. Dogs were brought into our vet suffering from heatstroke after a 20-minute morning jog.

Take care of yourselves. Particularly in areas where you're not used to heatwaves like this... check on your elderly relatives and such, remember your pets.

Yorkist said:

This crazy-ass heat is moving eastward, guys. The high today in my city was 108 degrees. Mailboxes melted. Dogs were brought into our vet suffering from heatstroke after a 20-minute morning jog.

Take care of yourselves. Particularly in areas where you're not used to heatwaves like this... check on your elderly relatives and such, remember your pets.

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What region are you if you don't mind my asking??

Yorkist said:

This crazy-ass heat is moving eastward, guys. The high today in my city was 108 degrees. Mailboxes melted. Dogs were brought into our vet suffering from heatstroke after a 20-minute morning jog.

Take care of yourselves. Particularly in areas where you're not used to heatwaves like this... check on your elderly relatives and such, remember your pets.

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Why, oh why don't people take care of their pets in heat is beyond my...I can't even come up w/ the words, right now...it gets me nuts!! Pets have even less ability to recover than kids from heat stroke, and yet idiots leave both locked in cars w/o a thought and then can't figure it out why they died? Duh!

Checking on the elderly is also wise, b/c their recovery time is also limited and dehydration becomes a problem.

Weather patterns are most definitely becoming stranger. I've had things bloom in my garden way sooner, this year. It's as if the calendar readjusted itself w/o notification.

The drought out West is frightening and w/ all the rain we've had, here in CT, we're still way below what we need. I'm doing my part to conserve; I sure as hell don't water my lawn while some of my neighbors do. Cut the grass longer so it won't die and it will hold the rain water longer. Leave containers out, when it does rain for watering the plants that need it-things like that. So what if my car's a bit dusty. The pups don't care

I'll keep praying for all the peeps in and around CO in the fire zone. Stay safe.