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'Absolutely devastating' Colorado wildfire burns hundreds of homes near Boulder
nbcnews.com ^ | 12/31/2021 | Tim Stelloh and Minyvonne Burke

Posted on 12/31/2021 4:54:22 AM PST by Scarlett156

Hundreds of homes burned and tens of thousands of people were evacuated after a rare wind-driven wildfire tore through suburban neighborhoods in Colorado on Thursday, authorities said.

Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in the area, calling the blaze — which ballooned to 1,600 acres in a few hours amid 100-mph winds — “absolutely devastating.”

After toppled power lines started the grass fire around 11 a.m. south of Boulder, the flames quickly spread through the towns of Louisville and Superior, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said during a news conference.

“This was consuming football field lengths of land in seconds,” Pelle said. “This was a horrific event.”

No deaths or missing persons had been reported, though he said he wouldn’t be “surprised if we find casualties.” One police officer was injured by flying debris, he said.

By 5 p.m., the fire had incinerated an entire subdivision of 370 homes in Superior and likely destroyed another 210 homes in the community’s old town neighborhood, he said. A hotel burned, a shopping center was in flames and the blaze was blocks from a hospital.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Colorado; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: boulder; colorado; disaster; fire; weather; wildfire
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To: 1_Rain_Drop
" Sounds rational but was impossible. The winds were above 50mph. Ever tried to use a garden hose in those winds with a fire approaching at that speed? "

Impossible you say. If you don't live here don't comment! Some people here used their brains and turned their yard sprinklers on and save there home, while the house next door burned!

61 posted on 12/31/2021 12:48:47 PM PST by crazy scenario (The burden of Damascus is next!)
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To: Think free or die

Thanks for clearing that up! LOL, I know all about posting before enough coffee.


62 posted on 12/31/2021 3:09:17 PM PST by 2nd amendment mama (Self Defense is a Basic Human Right!)
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To: Balata

Wowee. I’m sorry to hear that. Condolences on your family member and I hope future days are better.


63 posted on 12/31/2021 3:15:48 PM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: RetiredArmy

Yes. It’s a nice complex of buildings, very pretty against the backdrop of the Flatirons. But full of liberal fuds.


64 posted on 12/31/2021 3:17:03 PM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: JustaTech

loooooool!!!


65 posted on 12/31/2021 3:17:33 PM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: Born to Conserve

I avoid it. My band played shows there once in a while in the 80s/90s but it always sucked.


66 posted on 12/31/2021 3:19:44 PM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: 1_Rain_Drop; Trumpet 1; Born to Conserve; hinckley buzzard; All

“How does one water a roof in those winds?”

One does not water a roof. One builds a metal roof over a thermal noncombustible barrier, or slate, or Spanish tiles. One can also stucco the walls or use adobe, and build windows that do not catch fire. There are lot of good ways to build better in fire prone areas. Just not your standard clapboard house with standard asphalt based shingles, and wooden window and door frames.


67 posted on 12/31/2021 10:05:24 PM PST by gleeaikin (Question authority!)
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To: hinckley buzzard; Trumpet 1; All

You could also embed a sprinkler system, or a 5 foot swath of sprinklers that can go on in case of a fire and sprinkle the cheat grass.


68 posted on 12/31/2021 10:08:08 PM PST by gleeaikin (Question authority!)
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To: Scarlett156
God saw what you did in November 2020, Boulder County:

                                                                                                Basement Joe
                                                                                                outvotes         increase                                                                                                       
        Obama 2008    McCain 2008   2008 total          Biden 2020    Trump 2020    2020 total  Obama by            of 
Boulder	72%  124,159  26%   44,904   171,763	Boulder	77%  159,089  21%   42,501   206,111	 34,930	           128%

God sees you, Boulderites. The righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah didn't catch a break, either.

69 posted on 12/31/2021 11:38:47 PM PST by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: sasquatch

;-)


70 posted on 01/01/2022 1:15:54 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (Serpentine...Serpentine...)
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To: Scarlett156

We were given no warning in September 2020. I got out with my purse and cat


71 posted on 01/01/2022 5:45:46 AM PST by AuntB (Trump is our Ben Franklin - Brilliant, Boisterous, Brave and ALL AMERICAN!)
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To: upchuck

Do you know if the tower was properly maintained? Had it suffered previous damage? I’ve seen more than one where vehicle and run into the bottom brace and damaged it. Were the bolts that hold the steel superstructure together retorqued on a regular basis? Lastly the power company could’ve decided to turn the power off. Apparently they did that to many customers in the area before the windstorm hit.

https://electricenergyonline.com/energy/magazine/200/article/Transmission-Line-Operations-and-Maintenance.htm


72 posted on 01/01/2022 7:11:16 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (Serpentine...Serpentine...)
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To: Scarlett156

I worked up in the Mountain and was based out at Pete Field in Colorado Springs for 5 months in 1970. The wind on the highway leading to the road up the mountain on some days was horrendous, often times nearly blowing my car off the road.


73 posted on 01/01/2022 7:13:53 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: upchuck

A subsequent survey has revealed no downed lines in the area the fire started. The cause is yet to be determined


74 posted on 01/01/2022 7:16:35 AM PST by Mom MD ( )
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To: AuntB

Wowee, that’s extremely harsh. I hope you’re doing well now.


75 posted on 01/01/2022 7:52:37 AM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: kiryandil

I was kinda thinking that but I usually give Boulder such a hard time I decided not to this time.


76 posted on 01/01/2022 7:53:40 AM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: Mom MD

I hope they find the real cause - everything’s covered with snow today so that will inhibit any investigation.


77 posted on 01/01/2022 7:54:40 AM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: catnipman

It snowed like h3ll starting yesterday. That should give them some relief - in the last 3-4 months we’ve (talking about the state, I live a distance from Boulder County) had like maybe one inch of snow.


78 posted on 01/01/2022 7:57:41 AM PST by Scarlett156 (Don't take it personally. I just get bored really easily. )
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To: Gaffer
"I worked up in the Mountain and was based out at Pete Field in Colorado Springs for 5 months in 1970. The wind on the highway leading to the road up the mountain on some days was horrendous, often times nearly blowing my car off the road."

One of the comments I saw about the wind and the fires mentioned proximity to Rocky Flats. I'd never made the connection before since the decommissioning of that site was in the news decades ago. Rocky Flats was never fully decontaminated, and plutonium and other radioactive species remain in the soil in that area. It is mostly a wildlife preserve now, but it is west of some residential areas south of Boulder. The thought of high winds regularly blowing around radioactive dust doesn't make for a pretty picture. Some of the burned areas are potentially downwind of Rocky Flats. I wonder whether they have elevated radioactivity in the soil? I hope someone thinks to monitor the air quality as cleanup and reconstruction get underway. We weren't planning to move there but if we did, I think we'd be looking north of Boulder, not south.

79 posted on 01/01/2022 8:14:30 AM PST by Think free or die
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To: Trumpet 1

There were zero humans to put the grass fires out.>>>>>>>>>

Progressive Liberalism is a mental illness. This is not the Colorado I used to know from the 1970s.

” The sky is falling.....RUN FOR YOUR LIVES”

Back in the day a few hundred cowboys would have pissed this fire out in its early stages. Not only that, they would have pissed downwind.

But now Colorado has become a colony of California.Sucks to be them.


80 posted on 01/01/2022 9:19:47 AM PST by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism:http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html))
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