I know we have some members in Colorado, and the fires look very brutal. We get horrific wildfures in Australia and I know what they are like.
I just hope everyone is safe and if you need some help and support let us all know.
Remember to have your evacuation plan in place before the fire gets close.
Good Luck to you all
Cindy
Having been a victim of a major natural disaster I know how devastating physically and emotionally they can be. My hart goes to the people in the affected areas. I feel close to Colorado as I spent 15 yeas of my life there.
One of the most affected areas has been the city of Colorado Spring, which is home to several very homo and trans homophobic groups. I want to emphasize that I am not happy to see them suffer, just to note that they usually say that disasters or plagues are punishment by God. I wonder what they are saying now? Probably that the fires are because all the GBTL people in Colorado
BTW it was nice to see OUR PRESIDENT Mr. Barack Obama visiting the affected areas.
I know we have/had several members who live/lived in Colorado. I hope they are doing OK.
And Dr. Bower's old office is in Trinidad, south of Colorado Springs.
I'm in Denver and we do have a few fires still burning. The Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs is 30% contained. 347 homes destroyed and the Garden of the Gods park charred and the visitors' center destroyed, 17,073 acres total thus far. I had heard from 2 of my friends thus far and they were evacuated, but their homes were spared. Obama did visit the site yesterday and promised federal help in the recovery.
Colorado Springs owns the Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak, which was not in the fire zone. The subdivisions effected are part of the city of Colorado Springs, the rest, Pike National Forest.
There is a statewide fireworks ban for this summer, also an open fire ban, gas stoves and grills only. The professional displays have been canceled in some cities due to the dry conditions. Denver's displays are still a go, we had one at Coor's Field last night after the game. My neighbor was cited by the fire department two nights ago when his kids shot off some large bottle rockets. They are serious this year, they usually leave this neighborhood alone.
A timelapse by an art student on this fire here: 5 Day Timelapse - Waldo Canyon Fire - June 23rd-28th (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBA7eHY022k#)
Joelene
Wow.
That video left me literally speechless. Maybe because I live in a place where the most that happens is we get a bit damp once in a while, I have a strange fascination with events of this kind.
I really hope that everyone affected by this manages to get to safety and that as much loss of life and property as possible can be averted. My thoughts go out to everyone in that area.
Two of my nieces live in Colorado for college, one in Colorado Springs and the other one in Denver. They are both ok so far.
Take care all of my friend's in Colorado.
WOW! (https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsmileys.on-my-web.com%2Frepository%2FAnimals%2Fferret-9.gif&hash=42bd2ee88d4ddc91007b3b25799f543e9ee358f1)
That is scary. I hope that it rains really really soon.
I am pleased to report that all missing persons have been account for with only 2 deaths; a couple who's remains were found in their charred home. It is unclear (and probably always will be) why they hadn't evacuated along with everyone else in the neighborhood. Sad, but it could have been much worse. As of Saturday night we have 45% containment, primarily along the urban boundaries. The fire doesn't appear to be expanding much and we may have full containment by Monday. Little or no rain in the forecast, unfortunately.
Meanwhile, our house smells like smoke even with the windows shut. *koff* At least my spouse and I don't live on the West Side, where all the damage occurred.
Thank you all for your prayers and well-wishes. I hope nobody else in the Colorado Springs contingent suffered any losses.
I also live in the Denver area and there isn't any fires near here so far. But if the weather pattern doesn't change (very hot, dry and thunder storms with wind and lightning but no rain) I'm afraid we are in for a very long fire season. I feel so bad for all the people that have long everything. Not to mention the fire fighters that are working long hours in horrific conditions. Pray for them.
My eldest daughter and her husband live in the Denver suburbs to the north west, and she works at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She said she was wearing painting filter masks when she went outside.
We got a pre-evacuation notice here (Boulder), but it ended up being fine. I hope that everyone is okay, especially those of you in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.