A three-day-old wildfire erupted with catastrophic fury Tuesday, ripping across the foothills neighborhoods of Colorado Springs, devouring an untold number of homes and sending tens of thousands fleeing to safety in what was shaping up as one of the biggest disasters in state history. "This is a firestorm of epic proportions," said Colorado Springs Fire Chief Richard Brown. The Waldo Canyon fire in El Paso County — which had been growing in the forested hills on the city's west side — blew into an inferno late in the afternoon, raging over a ridge toward densely populated neighborhoods.
An apocalyptic plume of smoke covered Colorado's second-largest city as thousands of people forced to evacuate clogged Interstate I-25 at rush hour trying to get to their homes or to get out of the way.
By nightfall,
] roughly 32,000 people left their homes, chased out by the flames.
As the fire continued to grow,
all of northwest Colorado Springs was ordered evacuated, including the Air Force Academy.
"People are freaking out," said Kathleen Tillman, who drove up I-25 from Pueblo to her house in northern Colorado Springs.
"You are driving through smoke. It is completely pitch black, and there is tons of ash dropping on the road."
At the same time the fire in Colorado Springs was erupting with a new fury,
a lightning-sparked wildfire in Boulder blew up in the tinder-dry forest above the city. The Flagstaff fire grew in minutes to an estimated 228 acres and sent a smoke column over Boulder Valley. Twenty-six homes were evacuated, and residents of more than 2,000 homes in south Boulder were told to be ready to flee as the fire crept one ridge away from coming into the city.
While Colorado Springs and Boulder took over the headlines, crews working on the High Park fire west of
Fort Collins was measured at 87,250 acres with still 55 percent containment. That fire, the most destructive in state history, has torched at least 257 homes, nine more than previously thought.
Conditions are dry throughout the state.
Even a fire near Last Chance on the Eastern Pains blew up to 45,000 acres in just eight hours.
But as darkness arrived, it was clear that the
biggest fight in the state was in Colorado Springs, where ghostly orange flames rose across the city's western edge.
Wind gusts of 65 mph and the hottest day on record for Colorado Springs — the high hit 101 degrees — proved to be an explosive combination for the Waldo Canyon fire, which until Tuesday had not touched a structure.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20...ss-front-range
There are like 6 fires burning currently. No moisture. Record Heat. One of the most beautiful states is literally up in flames.
