Hell in Colorado

Some bad fires have broken out over the past week in Colorado but yesterday things blew completely out of control.

The worst up until yesterday had been the High Park Fire in the mountains west of Ft. Collins. This fire has burned over 80,000 acres, destroyed over 250 homes and killed at least one person.

However, this changed yesterday when the Waldo Canyon Fire exploded. This fire started outside the city of Colorado Springs (second largest city in Colorado) on June 23 but was thought to be mostly contained on June 25. However, the winds whipped up that night and the fire has now crossed into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs proper. 32,000 people have been evacuated (including the Air Force Academy). More are expected to be evacuated as the fire progresses.

Also of concern is the Flagstaff fire. This fire is only 300 acres in size but it started just 2 miles outside of the city of Boulder and is progressing in that direction. It has only about one mile (thankfully unpopulated) to the summit of the ridge where the wind could jump it over the last mile into the city.