Posted on 06/25/2012 6:09:58 PM PDT by Hojczyk
An out-of-control wildfire near some of Colorado's most visited tourist sites expanded overnight and kept some 6,000 people from their homes on Monday, as forecasts said winds could push the flames toward the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The fire sent a mushroom cloud of smoke over Colorado Springs in the shadow of Pikes Peak, whose vistas helped inspire the patriotic tune "America the Beautiful." Closer to the blaze, trees were visibly torquing and twisting from the heat.
The Waldo Canyon blaze came as firefighting resources were stretched by the monster High Park blaze northwest of Fort Collins, a university city north of Denver along the state's tinder-dry Front Range.
A dozen fires in total are burning across Colorado, with high temperatures projected to top 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) again on Monday expected to cause "extreme" fire behavior, officials said.
"We're going to be continuing to have to deal with these fires for weeks to come," U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said. "We anticipate it's going to be a long fire season."
The High Park Fire - the second-largest blaze on record in the state and its most destructive - has consumed 83,205 acres in steep canyons since it was sparked by lightning two weeks ago. It is blamed for the death of a 62-year-old grandmother in her mountain cabin and has destroyed 248 homes.
An estimated 4,300 people remain evacuated from their homes as that fire burns through grass, brush and Ponderosa pine.
The Waldo Canyon fire about 80 miles south of Denver had initially prompted the evacuation of 11,000 people on Sunday until residents of the town of Manitou Springs were allowed home, but were told to be ready to leave again on short notice.
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(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Unfortunately, when the flames descend on the Academy, those in charge will have to remind all and sundry that prayer is forbidden on that secular government ground.
God is neutral on this fire coming towards the AF academy.
They should have a gay parade to quell the fire with glitter, rainbows, and music. I’m sure it would generate enough sweat to do the trick! Or better yet, ask all of the illegals, I mean legals, to help, i’m sure they are looking for work now that they are citizens.
The winds just shifted to the North and the wind speed appeared to pickup. As long as the winds blew East they might have blown the fire to less fuel and extinguished the blaze. With the winds blowing North the fire will find all the fuel it wants as it blows across the front range.
Shame since the Chapel is the most iconic building on the campus.
I live near this fire, I can easily see the smoke.
CO does do controlled burns, not many, but some.
It's a mixed blessing, controlled fires, as the Forest Service, which doesn't allow anyone with an IQ over 85 to join, conducts these fires.
Just a month or two ago ANOTHER 'controlled burn' was conducted during high wind (up to 95 mph) conditions. Even an idiot could have figured it would burn as much as it did.
Wow, I have family in Colorado springs. Wonder how they are doing. Anybody know just where the fire is...I would like to Google the address of family and compare.
The Air Force Academy is miles, and miles, from the fire...chances of the fire reaching is extremely slim!
Wrong.
Witchcraft may be freely practiced there.
It's a good 20 miles from the Academy.
I grew up in the Springs, worked many of the tourist attractions (cog and Cave of the Winds among others) and it flared at 1pm Saturday and just exploded up Waldo Canyon, and has crested into Williams canyon - these are more in a northwest path from Colorado Springs, somewhat parallel to Highway 24 that goes from the Springs to Woodland Park.
If you have ever been to that area...Pikes Peak Highway/cog railroad, Cliff Dwellings Musuem, Cave of the Winds, and the North Pole Amusement/Theme Parks are the best known tourist attractions directly affected. They are all closed, but doesn't look like any of them have suffered damage (it came very close to the Cave of the Winds building), but North Pole would be the most in danger at this time, especially if the fire jumps Highway 24.
The Hayman fire raced 12 miles in 1 day. It is extremely dry here. Temps over 100 and humidity around 6%. Hot winds blow hard, over 25 knots. This is the weather fires love.
At 1:00 or so Saturday it looked like a little camp fire had gotten out of control with a thin stream of smoke. Within 2 hours it had grown into a much larger fire that seemed to be about 1 mile across and the flames were clearly visible on the ridge line. It is a fire that you can watch grow right before your eyes at a distance. Again, this place is extremely dry right now.
Sad.
You can thank the enviro-nazis for causing these fires. Until you manage the forests they will continue to burn.
Pray for America
A rare display of good news reporting from Tucson: The Rodeo-Chedeski Fire, Ten Years Later
Worst fire in AZ history, started by stupid humans.
In the next breath the guy giving the news conference said they are stopping this practice and looking for an alternative due to environmental impacts. What!? Oh, I see. This made far too much sense, so obviously the enviro-whackos want it stopped, so they can b*tch and moan about the destruction and get more money under their control for regeneration etc. Can't have the forest springing back all on it's own quickly after a fire!
Drove by a place that had a grass fire about this time last year. Can't see even a hint of demarcation where it stopped. Bugger off enviro-whackos!
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