It's a forest fire. And it's raging just west of Colorado Springs. Over 2,500 acres burned at last report, 0% contained. Neighborhoods on the west and northwest edges of our city have been evacuated, and the entire town of Manitou Springs has been evacuated as of about 2:30am. I first noticed the smoke while driving around my cousin's neighborhood around 2:20pm. I couldn't find her house (I always get lost in her neighborhood), got turned around and found myself facing a huge plume of smoke to the west. Naturally, I took a picture. On the way to my studio after leaving her house, I took another. And I took the above picture at 2:20am from the Garden of the Gods overlook, the very same spot where I took the picture that is the masthead of this blog.
This is extremely distressing. The wildlife has been burnt out of its habitat and there are animals in the streets (we nearly hit a deer while driving to take the above picture). The air smells like smoke. Many of my friends have been evacuated from their homes. And this fire was not caused by Mother Nature. There hasn't been any lightning -- no, this is a manmade catastrophe, and it's getting worse. Everyone in Colorado Springs is praying for rain. More pictures below.
According to the authorities, the fire started at around 1:00pm. I took this photo from my cousin's neighborhood at 2:21pm. You can't tell from this picture, but I could actually see the flames, and this is miles from the fire.
2:53pm, just half an hour later. The fire had consumed about 150 acres at this point. It is now over 2,500.
6 comments:
Oh no. No no no. This is terrible. My heart hurts for all of the people and critters who are suffering because of some stupid person doing something they shouldn't have been doing. My thoughts and prayers are with Colorado right now.
It just breaks my heart to see this. How can people be such idiots. I hope they see what distress this has caused. Sending positive thoughts for rain.
best wishes from California. we see these one in awhile over here in the heat, hope everyone stays safe!
We are supposed to be in Colorado Springs right after the 4th, for vacation that has been planned for months. I hope that the firefighters get a handle on this and that everyone stays safe. So sad to hear about the animals.
Tamera, we had just heard the news about this a few hours ago. Your picture at the top really conveys the enormity of it all. How sad to think of all the damage and threat to lives. Hopefully, it will be contained soon.
Thank you for your thoughts, everyone. This has been stressful and scary for everyone here. I hope they get the fire under control very soon.
Post a Comment