Posted on 04/15/2008 2:38:46 PM PDT by george76
Dozens of homes have been evacuated and a 5-mile stretch of Colorado 82 in western Colorado has been closed due to heavy smoke from a brush fire.
The 100-acre brush fire is burning at 1265 County Road 100, and is threatening several homes and a school, said Tanny McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Garfield County Sheriff's Office.
She said a horse farm and a private school have been evacuated. Two buildings have been damaged and one person has been transported with injuries...
Firefighters from Carbondale, Basalt and Glenwood are at the scene.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
“Everything’s going up; this whole valley’s going up,” Basalt resident Michael Mooney, reported from a ridge to the south of Garfield County Road 100 at 2:45 p.m.
Upwind of the flames and well out of the danger area, Mooney was in awe of the size of the fire and said every few minutes the flames would erupt in huge orange bursts.
“This is unbelievable,” Mooney said.
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080415/NEWS/432329738
Well, I knew it couldn’t be Carbondale, IL as wet as it’s been around here.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
High wind warnings for large parts of Colorado today. Stay safe, folks.
Witnesses said they could see the flames in the timber and juniper pinions less than 1 mile west of Catherine Store Road.
As soon as the fire jumped, firefighters from various agencies that were staged at Catherine Store Road scrambled up into the Missouri Heights area.
The wind was blowing the flames into the high ground where there are numerous rural subdivisions.
Highway 82 remains closed between El Jebel Road and Highway 133.
Children at the Waldorf School have evacuated, along with residents in the Ranch at the Roaring Fork Subdivision.
Before homeowners fled, they watered down their houses with garden hoses and filled buckets of water from the Roaring Fork River to wet down their properties.
News reporters said they were helping residents remove branches, bark and other dead wood from properties to reduce the potential fire fuel.
A dispatcher indicated that residents within a 3-mile radius of the fire’s reported point of origin have been ordered to evacuate.
Erratic winds are whipping up the flames, adding to the danger.
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/breaking-news-fire-v
There is a big front / storm due Wednesday in Colorado.
This is pushed by the winds before the front.
The warm weather and winds are the “warm before the storm.” Cool weather and moisture should move in tonight.
That’s a shame, it’s such beautiful country. You must know the area, George, will they be able to contain it or will the winds keep it going?
The warmer before the storm, the better the storm. Winter storm warnings and watches already up.
Hmmm...guess they shouldnt have built in the trees...
We may get snow tonight ?
Hey, I went to school there, 1969-1972. Wild days!
Brush’s fault!
We had snow here this morning. It stayed for an hour then politely went over the hills to the East.
The Carbondale fire was burning in mostly brush and grass, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said.
Garfield sheriff’s spokeswoman Tanny McGinnis told KMGH-TV that several homes and the school were threatened.
It was not immediately known how many residents live in the subdivision, called the Ranch at Roaring Fork.
Priscilla Dickinson, office manager at Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork...
A five-mile stretch of Colorado 82 was closed due to heavy smoke.
A second wildfire in the southeastern Colorado town of Ordway also forced evacuations, but a Crowley County sheriff’s dispatcher said she was too busy to give any details.
She said two other fires were burning in Garfield County...
It is a warm day today, 71F right now at 8,500 ft elevation NW of Denver. There is a winter storm warning here starting Wednesday afternoon. It looks like Carbondale has a 50% chance of snow after midnight tonight.
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