There Are No Words
In May we had the Hewlett Gulch fire. June 9th, the High Park fire started. Over the weekend there was a fire in Estes Park. Now there is one descending upon Colorado Springs that has caused a massive number of people to be evacuated and yet another started yesterday in Boulder.
The last I heard there were 11 wildfires burning in the state of Colorado. We’re experiencing days upon days of highs over 95 and setting records like crazy all over the front range. Relative humidities are in the single digits and winds are frequent and erratic. All things that spell disaster for getting these fires contained. Meanwhile we get glimpses of hope in the form of rain, only to have very little coverage of light rain for small periods of time and with it comes massive amounts of lightning.
Estimated containment date (note, containment does not mean it is done burning) for High Park is now July 30th. Well over 200 homes in that fire along are confirmed lost. Many of those homes housed livestock on their property who are also without homes.
My heart aches for those who’ve been evacuated for weeks and still have no word on the state of their homes. It aches for those who have lost everything. It aches for all the animals being uprooted from their homes - domestic and wildlife. I feel helpless.
As one of my friends who lost her home said on Facebook recently, “This is the big one..this is out and out WAR..this is our Katrina/Tsunami/get the picture?” It is so true. Every time it looks like we are getting a hold on containment, the wind stirs up or the heat kicks in and we loose ground like this last weekend. Now add in all these new fires in the last week. The damage is mind boggling.
If you have a means to help, please visit HelpColoradoNow.org and do what you can!
Another friend of mine is housing some extra animals for a friend of hers whom I’ve met who lost her home. She has been following statuses and learning a lot about wildfire fighting. If you want to know more, I’d recommend reading her series of posts on the High Park Fire which start here. There are currently 5 parts to the series and I’m guessing plenty more to come in her Current Affairs category.
