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 ...
Apparently, 3 died in Ordway .
Prayers for the families.
Redstone looks fine.
“(The firefighters) got there just in the nick of time,” Coffman said.
Fire, police and rescue agencies from throughout the valley and as far as Edwards, Mesa County and Paonia converged on the area surrounding the Catherine Store, where firefighting efforts were coordinated. Residents within a three-mile radius of the store — mostly from the Ranch at Roaring Fork subdivision and on Missouri Heights — were evacuated.
The evacuation order was not expected to be lifted for most area residents until noon today, depending on weather.
Hope somebody can turn them into hot links for me?
Thanks...
Another picture: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/photos/2008/apr/15/42021/
Carbondale fire on the western slope: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/photos/2008/apr/15/41996/
Fort Carson pic: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/photos/2008/apr/15/42022/
There’s nothing like a temperature drop of 31 degrees to remind Front Range residents that it’s still early spring.
Today’s high in Denver should be about 51 degrees, the National Weather Service says, and there could be 2 to 4 inches of new snow by Thursday morning.
That’s after Tuesday’s official high of 82,
The mountains could get a few inches of snow today, tonight and Thursday.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/16/82-degrees-snow/
Thanks for your pictures.
The swings in winds, temperatures, and now more snow is always impressive.
Thanks, George:-)
Sorry to hear about your fires. As a resident of southern California, I know what this is like. What is the percentage containment at this point?
Thanks. The percentages contained are mixed as to different fire locations and different media reports. My guess is generally 60 percent contained .
Three major wildfires still raging in the state killed three people, burned dozens of homes and forced the evacuations of more than 1,000 people.
Two firefighters were killed in Ordway when a bridge collapsed as their fire truck crossed it Tuesday afternoon. The men were trapped underneath the rubble.
A slurry pilot was killed in Fort Carson as his single-engine air tanker crashed near the 9,600-acre blaze.
Firefighters are expected to get some help Wednesday afternoon when an approaching storm is expected to blanket the state with rain and snow.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15896975/detail.html
The third fatality was the pilot of a single-engine, turboprop crop-duster tanker that crashed about 6:20 Tuesday evening along Colorado 115 at mile marker 34 near Fort Carson, said Michael Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration’s northwest region.
The pilot was identified as Gert Marais, 42, of Fort Benton, Mont., Fort Carson spokesman Maj. Sean Ryan said today. Marais worked for Aero Applicators, a Sterling company that supplies aerial firefighting services,
I just heard on the radio that the Carbondale fire was only 25% contained at 11:00 MST. I have not heard about the other two fires yet.
The other two killed were Department of Corrections officers who were acting as volunteer firefighters. Their truck either tried to cross a bridge that had collapsed or their truck caused the bridge to collapse, not very clear in the news report.
I see on radar that some light precipitation is moving through Carbondale. The fire there was just reported again as 1,000 acres and 25% contained. The Ft Carson and Ordway fires were much larger. No news on containment. The size is also confusing, either 9,000 acres each or 9,000 acres combined.
Just found reported this morning that the Ft Carson fire was 9,600 acres and 0% contained. The Ordway fire is reported as 90% contained, no report on current size.
The pictures of the road bridge that collapsed was a total burn. I do not know if that happened before or after the fire truck fell thru.
There was a train bridge in the same picture : also totally destroyed.
The Ordway fire seems to be pretty much contained...unless we get more massive winds.
The Fort Carson fire seems still out of control. They apparently recently evacuated another 500 homes near by ?
Carbondale fire was apparently contained on the flats before it got into the heavy brush and steep hills . That could have mimicked the South Canyon fire ?
The Ordway fire was reported to be 8,900 acres. It just started snowing lightly up here. I wish I could send the snow to where it is really needed. Prayers go out to the fire fighters and to people affected by the fires.
I don’t know what started the fires, but I am always amazed at how many people I see throwing lit cigarettes out of their vehicle window up here in the mountains.
I just heard on the radio that one of the bridge collapse fire fighter victims had 4 children and the other had 3 children.
Rain showers will develop Wednesday afternoon, mixing with snow and changing to all snow in the evening.
Snowfall will accumulate to about 5 to 10 inches to the south and west of Denver by early Thursday afternoon.
Denver and the surrounding cities are looking at 2 to 4 inches of snow.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/weather/15868783/detail.html#
Terry DeVore's family taken at Christmas
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