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Posted on 12/30/2021 5:13:36 PM PST by WXRGina
Wind gusts have been reported higher than 100 mph
Colorado wildfires have forced citizens in two cities to evacuate and has produced harrowing videos on social media of residents fleeing the flames.
The city of Louisville, which has a population of 21,000, was evacuated after residents in Superior, which has 13,000 residents, were told to leave.
Superior is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver. Louisville is just 4 miles (6 kilometers) northeast of Superior.
A nearby portion of U.S. Highway 36 was also shut down because of fire.
The blaze northwest of Superior was one of several fires that started in the area Thursday, at least some sparked by downed powerlines, as winds have gusted up to 105 mph (169 kph), according to the National Weather Service.
A scene straight out of an apocalyptic movie was captured in bystander video outside a Costco in Superior. It shows winds whipping through the barren trees in the parking lot surrounded by gray skies, a hazy sun, and small fires scattered across the ground.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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About 800 homes destroyed so far in Superior, Louisville, and South Boulder.
Six people transferred to UCHeath Hospital in Broomfield for burn injuries.
Superior, Louisville, and parts of Broomfield under evacuation orders. Some entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.
This is not one where you can stay and fight the fire.
This is a grass fire fueled by cheatgrass, an invasive species which grows early and fast then dries out late in the season and becomes kindling. It is a problem all over the west.
That’s what Ben was saying on the radio. This is fast, sudden and terrible.
Good news, the winds have largely died down now. Also, it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.
This place is always on fire.
Hundreds of people lost their homes suddenly today. That place was not on fire before.
... not to mention the dead, who we don’t know the numbers of, yet.
Horrible. It’s been very dry. Firefighters are helpless in the high winds. Our son is near the evacuation zone - fortunately to the west. It’s going to be a long night for a lot of people.
Terrible situation. Looks like on the radar precipitation is almost on the area.
We were there in September this year and last year. In 2020 we drove Trail Ridge Road at dusk with ash coming down as we drove, very strange experience.
Watched in horror as Grand Lake was almost destroyed about 2 weeks after we came home.
Went to Grand Lake again this September, and saw just how close the fire got to town in 2020. Literally across the road.
I have a friend who had to flee her home in Lafayette. Scary.
With respect for people and their loss, I can remember twice in 2 decades fire crews being called in to save this region. The area has claimed the lives at least two air tanker pilots. To me it seems like it’s always needing fire rescue (implying mismanagement.)
I live about 5 miles from Superior, CO. My wife and I bugged out about 3:00pm and went to our daughter’s house on the East side of Denver. Our neighborhood is currently pre-evacuation so we won’t be going home tonight.
i live about 20 minutes north of this fire and can see the massive smoke plume ... this fire is REALLY bad news: this is not a mountain fire in a sparely populated area, but instead is an urban fire burning out of control in heavily populated suburbs ...
we’ve had almost no moisture for many weeks and have had very high winds every day for the last 2-3 weeks, so it started out as dry as i’ve ever seen it in this area since i move here 37 years ago, AND these continuous warm dry winds have dried it out even more ... the fire potential here is explosive and my fear is we could see more of these devastating fires ...
SUPPOSEDLY we’ll be getting a bit of moisture for the first time Friday evening and Friday night, maybe a few inches of snow ... that’ll probably help some, but if these winds keep up, the moisture could be gone in just a few hours ...
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Along with most of the town of Superior.
I have been watching the flames from a distance. The Fire and Rescue teams going in there are heroes. They have been rescuing people who could not get out by themselves, mostly people in wheelchairs or bedridden people living at home.
The most heartbreaking call was from a Nursing Home supervisor who could not account for one of her residents after they reached the evacuation point. She called EMS to go back in for a building search. I hope they found the lost one.
Very sad. Prayers to St. Florian. I remember the 1991 firestorm that destroyed 2,800 super nice homes worth $2.5 billion in the Oakland Hills in Calif. We watched from Rockridge Ave. and the winds were brutal. “Diablo Winds” they were called.
Cheatgrass? Seems like controlled burning under calm /wet conditions were called for.
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