2012 Wildfire Season - Hundreds of homes lost

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CodeRedR51

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This fire is just plain out of control. 36,000 people have been evacuated and judging by the photos, a lot of them will be losing their homes. Now that it's taking over houses, I fail to see how they will get this thing under control. :nervous:

More Photos HERE

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I have a friend who lives in Colorado Springs, too. :nervous: I was watching videos last night of the fire's progress, and it's just... There really aren't any words to describe it.
 
When was that taken? The fire grew significantly yesterday during a period of 65mph winds.

Edit: Image acquired on the 23rd, so it doesn't really show how large it is now.

Here's one from yesterday.

Boulder.2012178.jpg
 
homeforsummer
Bloody hell. Do they know what started it yet?

From what I read, drought conditions plus lightning strike started it, and low humidity and high winds are what allowed it to spread so quickly.

My friend has sent me some "on the ground" pictures over the past few days and said it's okay for me to distribute them. I'll upload them here once I get home from work.
 
Blimey. My thoughts are with those whose homes are under threat or have already been lost to the fires. Must be terrifying to know that it's quite likely your house will be lost to the flames...
 
Fires are horrid. Absolutely miserable. What everywhere else has in major disasters like Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Tornadoes, we get here in Fires. It is a BIG deal for people who live in fire areas. I feel that people who live elsewhere dont truly understand how major things like this are.

Here in Redding, we usually have a massive fire every few years. The most recent was in '08, it made National News occasionally.

Nothing is fun about a fire. A lot of my mates' Fathers had to go fight them a few years ago, and some of them are in Colorado right now.
You've got families with nowhere to go, Firemen who are thirsty and tired(from fighting flames in 100+ degree heat, wearing a thick jacket and pants, in addition to carrying stuff),and getting into harms way.

Even on an individual basis, it affects you. When you go outside and there is a layer of ash on your car, and the smoke (Purely because of the wind, which usually rips pretty hard, making the fire so difficult to contain) is just as bad as a heavy layer of fog. The difference is, you cannot breathe comfortably. Anytime you get called to evacuate, you have only a few moments to decide what to take, and what to leave. In the summer, my house usually remains more or less packed up when we hear word of a large fire.

It doesnt get reported on the news as often as it should. But the job Firemen do at times like this is truly honorable. If you live in Colorado, do your part and buy a case of water or Gatorade or whatever, and take it to your local station/staging area. They will appreciate it more than you think.

A Hurricane comes and goes, and then you have cleanup. Same with most other disasters. You have to fight to stop a Fire, and THEN cleanup.

Thoughts to all who are displaced by the fires, and to those out there fighting them.
 
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How many acres has the fire covered? In 2008 we had the Triangle Fire. About 40,000 people were evacuated. Burned over 30,000 acres. We were almost told to evacuate. Scary stuff.

This was at a beach 25 miles from the fire. :crazy:

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Since Saturday, so 5?

Apparently it grew up to 9,000 acres in a span of a few hours yesterday when the winds hit 65mph.

Edit: Here's a photo from today. Looks to have died down quite a bit.

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Not close at all, I'm in AZ fire is in Colorado. My home town is on the west side of the state, still ~250 miles away.
 
As promised, some pictures. Be warned, they are of celllphone quality.









Also, a video link if anyone's interested.
 
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From the link I posted earlier, I just heard that this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be postponed because of this fire.
 
May not be the largest fire ever, but those pics are certainly the scariest I've seen. All those homes...... :nervous: I hope the residents are doing alright. I might finally buy one of them 72-hour backpacks. Nothing ever happens around here, so I've been putting it off.
 
Things have calmed down as compared from last night, but it's still only 5% contained. It grew from around 5k acres to 15k acres overnight on Monday/Tuesday. And, yes, the PPIHC is postponed to later in the Summer. Date is TBD and I posted a thread in the Motorsports section on it.

Smoke coverage is dependent on which direction the wind is blowing, which varies from hour to hour. That makes keeping fire lines extremely difficult. Around 32k people have been in a mandatory evacuation.

It's hot (record high temps), dry (extremely low moisture winter), low humidity and windy. That all adds up an epic combination of fire danger.

Lightning did not cause this fire. It did not lightning any at the suspected start time. There is, in fact an arsonist starting fires in the area (mostly by roads). That person is not apprehended. The source of this fire is not near a road. That kind narrows down how it got started in my opinion. Hikers or Campers.
 
You live in the north west. It rains. A lot. :lol:
I know, you don't have to remind me! :lol: I'm just saying, you never know what disaster might hit your town. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm a survival show junkie. Not a damn thing.
 
That looks horrible. :nervous: Is it still growing? It is devastating to see so much of people's livelihoods consumed by these mindless natural(?) disasters.

Plus, I bet that can't be good for the ozone.
 
Yes, still growing and moving. Roads and Highways are still closed, areas are still evacuated, and containment is is very low.
 
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