Waldo Fire In Colorado Springs
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The fire consumed up wards of 300 homes on Tuesday.
http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2012/06/photos-waldo-canyon-fire-near-garden-of-the-gods/38318/#64
http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2012/06/photos-waldo-canyon-fire-near-garden-of-the-gods/38318/#64
40 answers
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These pictures are just horrible...couldn't even look at them all. I hope you are staying safe and also that this will end soon!
Dee W
on Jun 28, 2012
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Makes some things that suck today, very trivial in comparison.
360 Sod (Donna Dixson)
on Jun 28, 2012
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Hope you are safe, and wish everyone the best that is having to deal with this nightmare. I agree, it makes us realize how lucky we are!
Jan C
on Jun 28, 2012
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It's unreal, KMS. We can't even imagine. Any thoughts on how the Hometalk community could help? Don't know if there is a special agency you know of (besides Red Cross, etc) where people can donate items for fire victims.
AK Complete Home Renovations
on Jun 28, 2012
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We complain about things we think are so terrible & then see the devastation in Colorado - that's enough to make me forget any little irritation I may have and just be thankful. KMS, I hope you are nowhere near those fires.
Sherrie S
on Jun 28, 2012
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These photos are also unbelievable and devastating: http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2012/06/photos-waldo-fire-aerial-photos-by-the-denver-post-staff/38644/ AK, thanks for thinking of our fellow Coloradans in need. Here is a site the state set up for information and how to help: http://helpcoloradonow.org/
3po3
on Jun 28, 2012
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It's a much less deadly and much smaller scale situation than Katrina. Most of the displaced families will only be out of their homes for a few days, then will be able to return to homes that haven't been damaged. I believe there has only been one fatality. The most damaging fire is in Colorado Springs, where more than 300 homes have been lost, but that doesn't compare to the scale of destruction in Katrina.
3po3
on Jun 28, 2012
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Its amazing how fast this can destroy lives. One of our friends at the barn where we keep our horse at has a brother who is fighting the flames there. Because of this his sister and our barn we have started a clothing drive to help out the people who lost everything. We cannot forget these folks.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jun 29, 2012
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Kevin & Steve - I've wondered about both of you since these fires started. KMS - thank you so very much for taking the time to let the rest of us really see what our evening news can't cover. I'm so struck at how the perfect outline of the burned homes is showing - it's like the "footprint" and yet right next door or across the street nothing has been touched. I have absolutely no problems at all!! Sure puts things in perspective and makes us come face to face w/what really is important in life!!
Susan S
on Jun 29, 2012
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Kevin and Steve...are you guys ok? Is your property affected? Are you close to the dust etc? Been thinking of you guys all day since i heard about this. I dont follow news much, so am behind the story. Be safe, please. I do know many from washington are there helping to fight the fires, even from Yakima!
Bernice H
on Jun 29, 2012
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Kevin and Steve - I too have been wondering how you guys are making out with all the fires. Been praying for you both as well as the numerous other people who are being affected by all this devistation.
Terri J
on Jun 29, 2012
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So hard to believe that I was just there less than 2 weeks ago. Such a majestic part of our country. It is hard to imagine that this is happening and will change this landscape for the rest of our lifetimes. My heart goes out to everyone there. . . no way to escape. All you can do is leave and try not to look back.
WallsTreat Studio/ Kass Wilson
on Jun 29, 2012
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It would be so-o-o nice if we could get through just one year without: quakes, tsunamis, drought, fire, severe storms and floods!! I'm beginning to believe mother Earth has had enough of us. Stay safe KMS and Steve!
Becky H
on Jun 29, 2012
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I actually got "rained out" yesterday for a deck job I have been working on, this was in North boulder and it was glorious. This is the first real rain storm we have had in months...I would be glad to see one of these every day for the next couple of weeks. Today we are back to a cloudless sky with forecasts (up here in Ned) of over 80 degrees which for use is pretty hot. There is a hint of smoke in the air but that is expected.
KMS Woodworks
on Jun 29, 2012
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A couple of years ago I was in San Diego area visiting a friend. This was quite a while after the fires, they still had soot every where, and when it rained, soot came off the roofs onto the driveways , gardens etc. You could still smell it too.And this was many months after the fires, maybe even a year or more, I dont remember. Hopefully you wont have this experence, depending on how close you guys live.We lived in military housing back in 75 in Spokane, we were evacuted for a fire, I and my children were the only ones who obeyed and left the housing area. The fire came right up to the backof the Geiger housing area. It was very smoky and sooty, Others just stayed thinking ..it wont get to us. But what about breathing all that stuff? And making it difficult for the firefighters if it did come through. I feel for those who lost their homes, but they got their lives. Stay safe.
Bernice H
on Jun 29, 2012
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A number of years ago I got to visit the Buffalo Creek area after a large fire there...once right after the fire...where the ash and "moonscape" landscape was still fresh. I got to visit some weeks later after it had rained....with all of the vegetation gone the rain caused some serious wash outs and massive amounts of erosion....Fire is only the first part of the destruction.
KMS Woodworks
on Jun 29, 2012
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Thank you for all the care, thoughts and prayers. They are much appreciated. We feel very loved in Colorado, with all the support pouring in from all over the place. And sadly, most Coloradans know wildfires are a risk of living where we do, especially adding in the changing climate and a century of fire suppression. All these forests are overdue for fires, plus they have been ravaged by beetles that having been moving farther north with the warmer climate. I am about 10 miles east of the big High Park fire that has been burning for a couple of weeks, so no direct threat, but the smoke has been pretty nasty from time to time.
3po3
on Jun 29, 2012
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I hope you and your family are safe, I've been calling many friends to check on them, I use to live in the Springs, was so sad to see the fires.
Ione H
on Jun 29, 2012
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I just moved to Alabama from Cascade, Colorado, last summer. My kids and ex still live there. It has been absolutely frightening since the fire started. They actually just all moved out of the house (almost) in the last month, so it is empty and just got painted, new carpet to put on the market (hopefully not too much of a waste!). My kids (young 20s) have been very stressed and will probably never forget this experience....so many of their friends and families have been evacuated and still cannot go home. Luckily, for them, the fire has not actually touched any of the homes up Ute Pass where it was originally headed... unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs...such destruction. I just hope and pray they get these fires fully contained soon ...it is 25% contained now, but that can change in an instant in Colorado. Steve G is right about the pine beetle devastation...it has left giant swathes of dead trees in the path of the fires. I hope the Waldo Canyon and all the other fires in Colorado are finished soon. It has been a very stressful week for all of Colorado.
Victoria S
on Jun 29, 2012
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It has been a tight and stressful week...but keep in mind it is only June....we have 2 to 4 more months of summer and fire danger season....
KMS Woodworks
on Jun 30, 2012
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does anyone know how cripple creek and divide are? love that area . so sad.
Terry S
on Jun 30, 2012
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Stay safe KMS
Home Repair Tutor
on Jun 30, 2012
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KMS, I think you will agree with me when I say - until you go through nature's fury or are close to it you cannot understand how terribly terrifying it can be. I wasn't afraid of hurricanes because my area of Florida never had one in 40 years - then we had four big ones in a year. I have a new respect for hurricanes although I was really lucky. We must all be prepared for the worst.
Sherrie S
on Jun 30, 2012
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I know there is an evacuation center in Cripple Creek for the west end of the big Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs. So that means Cripple Creek is safe, but pretty close to the fire.
3po3
on Jun 30, 2012
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@Steve & KMS - you guys keep us posted (as you already have) and please know all of us @HT have you guys in our constant thoughts & prayers. I can't imagine living with the day to day anxiety & stress, wondering which way will the wind blow today - which direction will this monster will decide to take off in now?? I know a lot of folks in Co. have lost everything.
Susan S
on Jun 30, 2012
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I can't speak for KMS, but I'm not in much threat of fire (at least not more than any house in a small city), and we all have to try and keep in mind that forest fires are a natural part of the life cycle of forests. We have just been suppressing fires for too long and messing with the climate too much. Either way, things are really looking up this weekend. The fire up here in Fort Collins is fully contained, and there is some more control over the Colorado Springs fire.
3po3
on Jul 01, 2012
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I'm situated in the forest...and am sorry to say that if a big one came through me and 95 percent of my neighbors would be toast. About 5-6 years ago I did some serious fire mitigation work around my home and I cut down about 50 trees...this puts me in a better position than most of my neighbors but the risk is still there. I have some neighbors who have dozens of dead beetle killed trees standing in their yards, why they let them stand is beyond me. Looking back at the aerial photos of the homes burned in Colorado Springs. It is obvious that the majority of those could have been saved if the homes were not so close together. A 4000 sq foot home set 8 feet from its neighbor...is just too dense. Those homes toppled like dominoes, and you can tell from the ash and burn patterns that it was home to home ignition and not forest to home ignition. I sure some new high density zoning and land use lessons can be learned from this event.
KMS Woodworks
on Jul 02, 2012
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@KMS: YEAH REALLY!! For some reason it always seems to take a tragedy to drive home the point that there are just things that shouldn't be done!! As to the beetles having killed the trees. . . .most of the time I think we have waaaay to much gov't interference, but then again, when people are so ignorant in not cutting down dead trees then you have to wonder if there shouldn't be some sort of mandate - at least on a local level, to remove dead trees because of fire hazards!! If you're gonna live in the woods, one has to be responsible and realize it's not just your property your are endangering, but that of others too!! (thank you - I'll get off my soap box now!! lol)
Susan S
on Jul 07, 2012
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Susan, time for my soapbox. It's complicated and really expensive to get rid of all those trees. Also, most of this beetle-kill happened pretty recently. These beetles have historically not been this far north because it's supposed to get too cold for them here, but with global climate change, they are thriving all year up north of Yellowstone now.
3po3
on Jul 07, 2012
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Let me soapbox for a moment. In Florida a lot of people were offered "free controlled" burning in areas with expected fire problems and enough people fought it because the smoke would bother them. They won but I wonder who lost. Money talks.
Sherrie S
on Jul 07, 2012
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@Steve - hey, you're allowed to have your time on the soapbox too! Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of homeowners who have dead trees on their property or at least close to the dwelling!! Also what Kevin said about houses being crammed right on top of each other! However, if this was a relatively recent thing (the beetles) then it's certainly understandable that people couldn't keep up!! The entire back of our lot is solid trees which go down to "protected wet lands" but over the 14 yrs. we've been here, the tree line has some how encroached ever closer and with the addition of a deck we're now 14' closer. Plus, there are a fair amount of enormously tall pines, but they are all still alive! I wouldn't want to think what kind of trouble we'd be in if something like this fire happened here. I guess the main point is that your part of the world is rather prone to forest fires and I was just thinking there would be some pretty stringent county/state laws mandating that homeowners keep dead wood cleared off their lots. I understand in heavily forested areas this would be an impossibility but in the developed - close proximity housing it poses a hazard for entire neighborhoods. YOUR TURN!!
Susan S
on Jul 07, 2012
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Susan, you are 100-percent correct. People need to create defensible space around their homes if they are in the forest or (what is called around here) the wildland-urban interface. Also, if you look at the photos Kevin posted that started this whole thread, you will see what is basically a suburban development in the foothills, and fire that just jumped from house to house and burned them to ashes. That type of development probably should have never happened, but there are also a whole lot of people on this earth and they all have to live somewhere. But all of this is getting a little deep and depressing. Doesn't someone have some cool pallet reuse project we can all enjoy?
3po3
on Jul 07, 2012
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Well shucks, and all this time I thought we were solving the problems of the world and have an interesting intellectual conversation!!! DANG ; ~)
Susan S
on Jul 07, 2012
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Susan, I sometimes think we are getting farther in trying to solve the world's problems than most of our elected officials. I feel sorry for the people who lost their homes, but I have to keep in mind that all these fires are actually really good for the ecosystem - and most any natural disaster is a good reminder of the power of nature. It's not something to be messed with or taken lightly.
3po3
on Jul 07, 2012
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Yeah, and you know WHY? We cut to the chase and don't BS around and do all the politically correct crap!! I'm sooo sick of all the"correctness" and pussy-footing around!! Heaven forbid we offend anyone for any reason!! SOAP BOX again!!! Yes, you are right about the fires ultimately being beneficial. It's one of Mother Nature's ways of keeping things in balance. It's when mankind has encroached and kept things in such tight control that when a fire does start, things begin to escalate and are soon out of control. I too feel badly for those who have lost their homes. I can't imagine having to try to put one's life back together when you've lost everything. Not to sound like a cliche, but if the reports are correct, there doesn't seem to be too much loss of life. Possessions can be replaced . . . .
Susan S
on Jul 07, 2012
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Rain...glorious Rain...between Friday and Saturday totals near me have accumulated over 3" Woo hoo....the crops are saved...or at least some of the trees and grass.
KMS Woodworks
on Jul 08, 2012
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I am only one of many who is extremely pleased to learn this!! So happy Co. has found some relief from the drought and fires!!
Becky H
on Jul 08, 2012
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Of course, now everything is flooding, especially the fire-ravaged areas, but I still think that's an improvement over fire and drought.
3po3
on Jul 08, 2012
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YEAH!!!! Soooo glad you all finally got some "LIQUID SUNSHINE"!!! That had to be an enormous relief!! We're still toughing out intense HEAT - 100 here again today!! Roads are buckling & news just reported a plane had to be towed off the runway@ Reagan Airport in DC because it sunk in the soft asphalt!! The storms that blew thru here last Friday really caused major havoc a little further up in N.Va. and there are still MAJOR power outages. People are not happy campers up there!! Other than HOT HOT HOT, we in the 'burg are muddling along!!
Susan S
on Jul 08, 2012
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You know I didn't see this post until today, but going through the slideshow my heart was just breaking for these families! I'm so glad the situation was contained as quickly as it was....God bless the families that lost so much....
Sharron W
on Aug 22, 2012
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