We've been experiencing drought-like conditions for a few years, but today the major causes of the fire spreading were wind and temperature. We reached an all-time high of 101 degrees, the hottest day ever recorded. At the same time a nearby thunderstorm blew in, and the 60+ mph winds blew the fire east, across valleys, and eventually down the mountainside into the neighborhoods in Colorado Springs in a matter of hours. The yellow area on the map shows how much the fire spread in one day, tripling its size.
I was coming home from a training in Denver and was actually on the phone with my mom when the flames crested the ridge and started heading into town. A few hours later my parents and 32,000 other people made up the total number of people that had been evacuated from their homes and businesses. People had time to get out, but not much time to plan what to take and what to leave behind. My parents decided to stay at their business overnight to tend to the 50 animals that were still in their care.
Ash and smoke filled the entire city while we all watched the "hundreds" (reportedly) houses burn to the ground on the news. Ash as small as a pinhead and as large as someone's hand ended up all over town in people's yards, in their houses, and in their cars. Not many people slept that night, to include the now over 1,000 firefighters and other personnel battling the blaze. With that many people evacuated, most people knew and even housed friends and family that had been affected.
The good news is that despite hundreds of homes being burned to the ground, many more were saved. No injuries or deaths have been reported, and the crews seemed to now have the fire under control after a successful Wednesday and Wednesday night (green area on the map). The area burned could have been much worse if it hadn't been for the crews on scene. No one could have planned for a fire like this, evidenced by the fact that many seasoned personnel said they have never seen a fire act like this one did. The crews couldn't completely fight the fire until the terrain allowed them to do so, which in this case began in the neighborhoods themselves.
Although very sad and unprecedented, many people on this side of town live in a fire zone. Although Colorado Springs is the seventh safest city from natural disasters in the country (according to a recent study), a fire in these areas shouldn't be a surprise. I think the magnitude and how fast things happened are what's surprising, but a fire shouldn't be. We all know we live in a giant tinder box right now, and the local authorities were already working with other neighborhoods to reduce risk, clear out areas, etc. I guess a good way to sum it up is that this was probably a wake up call for a town where nothing like this has ever really happened.
I kept copies of some of the more amazing and sad photos to share with everyone. Some of you have probably seen a few of these already. As I write this, the fires in town seem to be almost gone. Things appear to be almost over, at least in town, as today is the first clear day this week. We can see the mountains and all fires that came over on Tuesday are pretty much gone. You never know if another area of the fire can come over the mountains farther north or south, but things seems good now. I hope the worst is over and the community can now move forward and pick up the pieces. I have no doubt we will.
