Today’s local newspaper article; https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/10/20/cameron-peak-fire-estimated-30-50-structures-burned-cameron-peak-fires-latest-run/5987603002/
To see the sort of wind that Colorado firefighters had to deal with over the weekend scroll down to the CO fire tweet here (it’s a very short video clip) https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/10/20/colorado-cameron-peak-fire-spawns-rare-smokenado/5993888002/
These are what are flying over me (scroll down); https://www.coloradoan.com/story/new…re/6003820002/
Thanks for asking! We are under voluntary evacuations and are home. We are so fortunate we have not lost our property. So many have and it’s heartbreaking.
i have to be honest though, and it’s difficult to admit, but I am beyond stressed. Work is crazy busy, the horses are 2+ hours away south of Castle Rock, the air is especially bad today and I could whine on and on. I feel terribly guilty for complaining because we have lost nothing. Because of the kindness of several people, are animals are/were
in safe places.
I just need a break from this year. I need a break from Covid, from political commercials, from the fire, blah blah blah. 😩
6 Likes
I understand, I really do. You are not whining. :no: I glance at the news online but don’t watch TV news. It is too depressing and you don’t need to watch. You have to protect yourself from as much of the negative as possible. You can read online what you need to know in the news, without immersing yourself in the awfulness that is TV news.
It seems as if there has been no relief from all of these troubles for so long. They come from every direction, one problem after another and everything is that much more complicated by the COVID pandemic.
It’s raining soot where I am, not ash, but black soot. The weather forecast is just another slap in the face, temperatures bouncing around all week 60F on Saturday until it bottoms out on Sunday with a high of 21F and a low overnight of 5F. Indian Summer crashing headlong into Winter. Everything is so bizarre and unpredictable.
Hang in there. We’ll make it through, overwhelming as it is. Remember to be kind to yourself.:yes:
2 Likes
Granby is evacuated and Estes Park is evacuating now. Those of you who have been to Estes Park can imagine how slowly that’s going.
Rocky Mountain National Park is closed and the roads into Estes are closed to incoming traffic. They believe that the Cameron Peak and the “Troublesome” fire that has burned 120,000+ acres in one day (causing the Granby and Estes Park evacuations) may merge.
Here today it has been so dark from the massive smoke cloud that the streetlights in town were on all day. Soot is falling and covering everything with black ash. It blows along the ground like black dust. It is windy here and the temperature is dropping. We’re expecting a low of 18F tonight.
I saw on the news that the one near Grand Lake had blown up. Stay safe, guys. So sad – that’s such a beautiful part of the state.
Getting out of Estes is a shitshow under the best of circumstances.
2 Likes
Photos included in local news article https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/10/22/east-troublesome-fire-live-coverage-what-we-know-wildfire/3732267001/
When times are bad we (perhaps only old people) can rock with Delbert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7tFeVLNH5E
More Old people music. Sorry for the derail. When It’s tough, we take comfort in music.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV2zv6sVD_o
An easier way to see the photos. The photo taken from Boyd lake in Loveland (at the bottom of the page) shows the southern part of the smoke cloud we had here yesterday.
https://www.coloradoan.com/picture-gallery/news/2020/10/23/see-inside-east-troublesome-and-cameron-peak-fires/3736272001/
What a nightmare. Having just been thru my own (first) wildfire experience- although not of this magnitude- I feel for all of you. @skydy you were a voice of calm for me during that time, I hope you are okay and stay that way!
4 Likes
I saw yesterday that Winding River in Grand Lake, a very popular place for horsepeople to camp and trail ride, had many buildings burned to the ground, although apparently a few survived (they’re still evaluating the total damage).
They were able to evacuate people and horses, but such a sad thing. I camped there for a week last summer and it was magical. I can’t imagine what it will take now to rebuild for all these folks.
Thanks.
I’ll be fine. The fires are not expected to come this far east though the spot fire was a little too close for comfort and we’ll have to deal with the smoke, but that is nothing compared to the difficulties of evacuation and the loss of homes and livestock. So far there are no reports of any lost lives, but that could change due to the speed that the Troublesome fire went through Granby.
@kelo the fires have devastated some very beautiful natural areas that will never be the same, in my lifetime anyway. It’s a shame. They are also being fueled by the massive beetle kill we’ve had in many of the forests in Colorado.
It is time for the Elk to move down to their winter ranges and the bears to continue their hyperphagia before hibernation . The wildlife will really be struggling, along with the humans.
Here is a map of the fires and the evacuations (scroll down). If you click on an area there will be a description of the boundaries and nature of the evacuations.
The charcoal shaded areas on the map are the fires themselves. https://nocoalert.org/
It is just after midnight here and I am hearing many aircraft for the first time today (Friday.) I hope nothing else has happened. The fires aren’t behaving as fires normally do, according to the heads of the fire brigades.:no:
A couple in their 80’s who refused the offer from family and officials who drove through roadblocks to help them evacuate, have died. They were in the basement of their house outside of Grand Lake, where they felt safe.
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/new…ke/6018644002/
Sounds like the Cameron Peak Fire, and East Troublesome Fire are blowing up now, still have the whole day to get through.
I saw this
Hard to read and heartbreaking, not just for the loss to family and friends of this couple but to all that put their own lives at risk to try to convince them to leave. They loved their home and had so many happy memories in their home and the land and chose to stay even though they knew the extreme risk of the fire.
Their son owns the property now and was letting his parents live there as long as they like. May they sleep easy in the land they loved so much.
1 Like
