Some shots from the Colorado High Park Fire

Pilgrim · June 11, 2012, 11:39:32 AM

From where I live in Fort Collins, the High Park fire is just over the hill, about 14 miles away. As of Monday noon, the fire which started on Saturday is more than 36,000 acres!! It has just entered a state park and there's no effort at containment right now, as it's too dangerous to get close to...any wind can move it at great speed.

This is burning in a heavily forested area of the foothills, where terrain is steep. I pulled this from a story in the paper linked below: "Blazes are spreading at 20 to 40 feet per minute with average heights of 15 to 20 feet with bursts up to 300 feet high."

The local paper has coverage: http://www.coloradoan.com/

Some photos taken yesterday afternoon from my house - at this time the blaze was less than half its size now, less than 24 hours later.

The sun through the smoke:

The smoke...

The terrain is such that I don't think this fire can come over the hill and get into town, but we already have more than 2000 people evacuated from homes in the area, and the evacuation area is increasing. I just made an online donation to the Northern Colorado Red Cross, as they need the help.

Dave W · June 11, 2012, 01:12:22 PM

Wow, that's uncomfortably close, especially as fast as it's spreading. Stay safe.

Pilgrim · June 11, 2012, 03:21:01 PM

Thanks...earlier today I saw that the fire had come over the top of the ridge closest to town - might see if I can get some shots.

Highlander · June 11, 2012, 03:37:44 PM

Hopefully there's a decent firebreak between you and it...!

Pilgrim · June 11, 2012, 03:47:05 PM

Some new shots - these were taken from the major road that runs by my house. These are shot with a 255 MM lens on a Canon T3...so they're not quite as close as they appear, but it's still enough to make one nervous.

There is a lot of rocky, barren area on the ground between the last foothill and town - and I'm also sure that the fire department is keeping a very close eye on the outskirts. We're on the far side of town, but that's about 1.5 miles from the foothills.

The smoke from this fire is pooling over NE Colorado (100+ miles east and far south) and can be smelled as far south as Colorado Springs, about 120 miles south of here. The overall atmosphere is so hazy that getting high def pictures isn't possible...as you can see.

Helluva birthday present for me, innit?

Latest stats @4 PM MT....36,000 acres...100 structures lost...at least 500 to 600 firefighters on it in the next 24 hours...currently zero containment, and that may not change today.

Highlander · June 11, 2012, 03:59:55 PM

Ahh... birthday boy... I warned you about all those candles...

Pilgrim · June 12, 2012, 08:25:47 AM

Ongoing....

Today the fire is at 41,000 acres. I can't even see the foothills that are pictured in the photos above. There's enough smoke between me and them that all I can see is grey looking west...and it's not that far. The whole town smells like we pitched a tent downwind from a campfire.

Incidentally, telling directions here is easy. We're about a mile east of the foothills for the Rockies. If you look west, the first foothill juts out of the ground at a 30 degree angle, about 500 feet high...and it gets higher after that. Never a problem telling east (the Great Plains) from west (mountains).

dadagoboi · June 12, 2012, 08:34:14 AM

Stay Safe!

Pilgrim · June 13, 2012, 09:16:33 AM

No more camera shots today - visibility is down to a half-mile and I can't see the foothills from anywhere in town. It's like a fog, but it's everywhere. One of my co-workers lives just below a dam that's built into the last foothill. She walks there from home...yesterday when she backed her car out of the garage she couldn't see the dam, and it was just over 1/4 mile away.

Latest word is that the fire is up to 46,000 acres and we have about half the US air tanker fleet here. Good news is that we have about 10% containment on the side closest to homes...but that doesn't cover all the homes. The whole town smells like we're sitting downwind of a camp fire.

uwe · June 13, 2012, 10:01:06 AM

You haven't had much rain then lately?

Pilgrim · June 13, 2012, 02:01:13 PM

No, this year we're quite dry and snowpack is below normal. Colorado depends heavily on snowfall in the Rocky Mts. as a source of water, and last winter's snowfall was considerably below average. Rain has been scare this year as well.

Humidity also runs low in this part of the country, which increases fire danger. Right now humidity is at 11% in Fort Collins (check it on http://weather.com) and it's 91 degrees.

Adding to the general fun and frivolity, pine trees throughout the western US have been killed in great swaths by the Pine Bark Beetle, with the result that there are huge stands of dead trees with brown needles waiting for a spark so they can act like torches.

Many areas look like this:

Here's a map of the impact on forests in the western US:

All in all, one couldn't ask for a nicer combination if you want a good, healthy, widespread forest fire.

uwe · June 13, 2012, 03:15:31 PM

Indeed. $:-\$

Do stay close to water!

Pilgrim · June 15, 2012, 08:04:55 PM

Latest report - the fire is about 84 square miles (56,000+ acres) and is about 20% contained, only in the areas closest to houses. The firefighters say they'll probably be here most of the summer cleaning up small fires. Close to 120 structures gone.

Some days we're able to see the foothills from town, sometimes we can't. We're hoping for a little rain or higher humidity to help the crews get a bit of advantage.

Barklessdog · June 16, 2012, 07:18:59 AM

QuoteNo, this year we're quite dry and snowpack is below normal. Colorado depends heavily on snowfall in the Rocky Mts. as a source of water, and last winter's snowfall was considerably below average. Rain has been scare this year as well.

Same with Chicago, very little snow last year - we are having one of the worst draughts in years. Now we are getting weeks of 90 degree plus temperatures. Everything becomes kindling.

Hoping for the best for you and your family.

Pilgrim · June 17, 2012, 08:25:26 AM

As of this AM (Sunday) reports are that 181 structures have been burned, and the fire is now ranked as the most destructive in Colorado history.

I haven't heard about containment figures, but we're due to be over 90 with strong winds today. I hope they're blowing west toward the mountains, because there's not much construction in that direction.

Smoke smell is still pretty strong in town, and my wife has a persistent cough from the irritation.