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Old 06-25-2012, 12:36   #329
afchic
Area Commander
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: IL
Posts: 1,644
Quote:
Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521 View Post
Well, the High Park fire has now consumed 248 homes and covers roughly 85,000 acres at last estimate.

The more recent blaze down by CO SPGS is doing some major damage as well. I think it was something like 11,000 residents and summer travelers had to be evacuated from their homes, hotels, cabins, etc. Oddly enough, Michelle Malkin and her family are among the evacuees.

A fire broke out in Estes Park this past weekend, destroying multiple cabins and other structures. I don't know if they have that one contained. If not, kiss Rocky Mountain National Park, as you know it, goodbye.

I've also come across some odd internet chatter about rumors of arsonists may be responsible for some of these blazes. I'm trying to remember where I read the statement but one account claims to have seen a guy toss a propane tank out into the woods and detonate by rifle fire before racing off in his truck.

A bit of sad irony: The news reported the house across the road from the Picnic Rock Day Use Site up in Poudre Canyon has been destroyed by the fire. That house belonged to the guy who started the Picnic Rock Fire in Poudre Canyon in the spring of 2005. I remember that being a very dry spring and, with the winds blowing through the canyon, that fire flew up the sides of the canyon and surrounding areas and cost a fortune to contain. If I recall, the county used most of its budget on that one fire and it was only the first fire of the season. It was easy to determine where the fire started. The guy was illegally burning trash and dead vegetation and the winds took it from there, leaving a big black arrow pointing straight back to his house.
I talked to my parents last night and they said Manitou has been evacuated along with some other nearby towns. Highway 24 is closed. It is so sad that the fire is in Waldo Canyon. Some of my best memories from growing up are hiking there with my dad.

Prayers out to everyone having to deal with all of this.
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