Colorado Springs Fires - 32,000 people have been evacuated

various

[Linda Frances]

That is the insurance I have, USAA. We just had hail damage a few weeks back in Colorado Springs. My husbands truck had $2800 worth of damage. It’s in the shop now.

[gortklattu]

I watched that hailstorm while staying at the Olympic Training Center in COS. That was quite a storm. We surely could use a storm like it now.

[Chances Are]

The Flagstaff fire is so named because it is almost upon the main access road, Flagstaff Road, in that area. While it doesn't have the inaccessibility problems that contribute mightily to the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires, access is difficult enough, especially for big rigs that firefighting demands.

There are fires up in Wyoming, over in Utah, and down in New Mexico and Arizona. The weather has been so dry for so long, everything everywhere is tinder dry.

We're just coming off 5 straight days of record-breaking 100+ degree weather (tied for the longest ever run of such temperatures), and most everywhere, humidity runs in single digits.

The wind is a constant problem, and it's exacerbated where these wildfires run.

We're supposed to cool down to 98 today, but they said the same thing about yesterday, which turned out to be 105. Thunderstorms are in the forecast, it's true, but local weather person Kathy Sabine estimates the Flagstaff fire was the result of no less than 51 lightening strikes in that area within a very short time frame.

Where I am, right now it's not too bad, but should the wind shift to the West, that will change in quick order.

Playing golf is problematic, as the air generally stinks. Damned if I'll draw that stuff into my lungs!

CA....

[A.A. Cunningham]

HTML Sandbox 2012

How to add images to your post:
The img tags tell the computer to find and insert a picture.

You need to know the URL of the picture to do this. You can see the picture's URL when you put your cursor on the picture and right click the mouse. You see a small box with "properties" at the bottom. Left click on "properties" and you get a dialog box with the image URL and dimensions. It says Address: next to the URL, with (URL) underneath. Copy the URL and paste it after your img src= tag. Make sure you get all of the URL for the picture. There isn't a lot of space for the URL and sometimes they are very long. The image Size and Dimensions are beneath the URL. Free Republic allocates memory for each image, and if it doesn't know the dimensions of the image, it will allocate more memory than needed. It tells you the width, then the height of the picture.

This is called a hotlink. The picture is actually on another computer, but we see it here. This causes the other computer to use it's memory and machinery to provide the image. Some sites prevent it, or object to it. You can't hotlink an image from any of Yahoo's GeoCities pages, for example. Yahoo prevents it.

[Arrowhead1952]

<img src=http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7451428108_fd04740861.jpg>

This is the html you need to post the picture in reply 5 on this thread. The picture has to be on the web or some photo hosting page. Right click the picture, go to the properties tab and copy / paste between the <and> without any spaces.

[chargers fan]

For the most I agree with your opinion that most of the time people wanting blame is part of this need for people to not believe there are random occurrences. However, in regards to these firesbI believe they could have been prevented or at least limited with controlled burns. The Western US is designed to burn, it’s part of the natural cycle there and Nature’s way of clearing brush. With controlled burns, these required burns take place piecemeal and under the watch of firefighters.

[gortklattu]

I have heard from persons in the know that there is a sequence to responses to a forest fire; you just can’t water bomb a small fire into submission asap. It has to grow and consume a lot of acres before aircraft are summoned.

I’ve also heard that the Forest Service is bogged into near-submission by red tape and union rules. The way their spokesperson talks, she was hired to do just that.....yabber.....yabber....yabber.

Word here is that the Air Force Academy acted on its own, creating fire breaks with their own bulldozers; bypassing the federal fire authority. I haven’t seen that yet, but raise a glass to them is they did.

[unkus]

Thanks for the link, cornfedcowboy

[nuconvert]

Evacuation orders were just announced for Woodland Park. They were previously under pre-evac orders.

[KC Burke]

Well dang. That sounds pretty bad for Woodland Park. As steep as it is there it will be hard to protect structures and homes I imagine.

[OldEarlGray]

[I’ve been through the Garden of the Gods, took my daughter riding there.]

[DMG2FUN]

The leftist aka progressive treehuggers are blaming this fire on global warming. Not the simply fact. They have prevent harvesting the forest of America. Better known as forest thinning. There are more trees per acre of land in America today. Which is part of the problem. Then before them there evil Europeans arrived. More trees on the same acre of land. Makes for weaker trees. It means they burn better. The leftist aka progressive treehuggers do not want to see tree stumps. They prefer forest fires that basically clear cut the forest. Nothing but chicken little morons. Killing the planet. In the name of saving the planet

[SueRae]

Yup - Academy Riding Stables..fond memories of that trip. I sent them email hoping they’re ok. Spoke to a co-worker nearby (south of the Springs), air quality is terrible. Prayers for all affected.

[Aunt Polgara]

Here's a post fire picture of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood showing which houses are still standing. The mandatory evacuation is still in effect, so this is the only way for residents to see if their houses are still standing.

[Dallas59]

HTML For Freerepublic

This will show you how.

[Linda Frances]

Thanks much!