The area in which my home is in is currently under a voluntary evacuation do to an out of control forest fire which started at around noon today. Already, it is over 600 acres in size. Nearby areas have already been placed on a mandatory evacuation. Here is a link to a news source: http://smup.us/ac. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Damn. I wish you guys the best of luck with your situation. Hopefully nothing will happen to you, your family, and your home. I can’t imagine ever being faced with such an aweful situation.
Fortunately, the winds have shifted directions and are now blowing away from my area. As a result, we are no longer under any sort of evacuation! However, if the winds switch directions, that could be a problem. So far the fire is 2,000 acres and 0% contained, but nobody has been injured/kill and nothing has burned down.
I even made a website with links to some of the local news sources covering this fire: http://fireinfo.erasurge.com
Makes me glad I don’t live out west. We have some smaller scale wildfires once in a while when it gets dry, like this past spring, but thankfully they are much smaller and easier to bring under control.
I think the site is a great idea.
However! With 411 visitors and no idea if they are using the site for “official” information I would very clearly at the top of the page indicate that you are no way an official source of information.
I realized that too, and have since added it. Thanks!
The fire has grown to 3,600 acres, and is still 0% contained. However, still no structures have been lost, and nobody has been injured/killed, but the fire is getting close to some neighborhoods:
This is a view of the fire at 1:30 AM yesterday:
Although there are currently 9(?) other fires in my state right now, this fire is getting the most attention due to its close proximity to multiple cities/communities. A Type 1 National Team, which are basically the Navy Seals of firefighting, are taking over today, and with that, are bringing more resources.
While no structures may be lost in the fire, there are also concerns about the economic impact on certain tourist destinations that have been closed, as well as people with with breathing problems due to the smoke in the air.
Well, the fire has really taken a turn for the worse today. This morning, a small 10x12 tent structure burned down at a campground. However, during the press briefing they were hosting at 4 PM today, they speaker was interrupted because two neighborhoods near to the mountain in which the fire is were immediately threatened and had to be evacuated immediately. Multiple homes are currently burning or already completely destroyed. My family had to evacuate as well. Luckily, we had a lot of time to evacuate, so in addition to all the important things in my life, I was able to get other, less important things, such as my computers and alarm collection. We are currently staying at a friend’s house across town.
Luckily, the wind has shifted so it is not blowing directly towards us like it was earlier, and rain is expected later this week. There are 800 or so firefighters working on this fire, and we are getting help from the government too.
Here are some pictures. These are not mine; I have a few and I will share them as soon as I am able:
The fire has gone up to 10% containment, and things are starting to look better. However, 346 on 35 streets have been, unfortunately, lost.
I would not call “10%” any better at all, and with hundreds of homes burnt to nothing it is worse than it was when it was just burning 100% uncontrolled.
10% seems like a number they threw out to make people feel comfortable. This fire has not gotten any better yet and crews are having a horrible horrible time fighting it.
It is really sad to see such a beautiful landscape get destroyed. I love Colorado.
I also should have mentioned that little or no growth in the size of the fire has been made. Also, containment is at 15% now, and due to favorable weather conditions, it is expected to go up even more today. The growth in the containment shows that they are making a lot of progress on the fire.
Unfortunately, the remains of a body were found in one of the homes that burned. 
Also, President Obama is coming to tour the fire area today. It should be interesting to see if/what he says.
And here is a video that was posted on YouTube. The link starts at around 6 minutes, which is where things begin to take a turn for the worse:
Containment has reached 55%!! The rate is growing at a rate of about 10% a day now, which is great. Also, most of the evacuations have been lifted (including mine). The only one remains, within city limits, at least, is in the neighborhood where the 346 houses burned. Unfortunately, another body was found in the same house as the previous one. The cause of the fire is still unknown. This fire has been the most destructive fire in my state’s history.
Well, I finally got some of the pictures that I took. All of these were taken while my family was evacuating.
Here is a view of the smoke rising from the mountains.
A view out of my window (hence the flash) of the hazy, eerily orange sky.
Some more smoke from the mountains.
Smoke-filled sky. It was was pretty hard to breath outside.
The red sun behind a cloud of smoke.
A view while leaving the neighborhood.
Backed-up traffic while we were trying to leave.
