Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Colorado Springs Wildfire

I have gotten a few phone calls and several e mails so I just wanted to post that the huge, 30 sq miles now, wildfire is on the NorthWest side of Colorado Springs and I live way SouthEast of that area. My son in Green Mountain Falls was mandatorily evacuated the lst day and for the moment his home is OK and he is staying in Colorado Springs where he works. My daughters family was mandatorily evacuated Tuesday when the firestorm just went crazy with 60 MPH winds pushing the flames into a formerly lovely housing area, Mountain Shadows, with 347 homes burned to the ground. Their home too is OK as they live well East of the danger. This fire was caused by an arsonist and thus far 1 person is dead and another in the burnt out house is missing. Appreciate your concerns and yes, this is the worst fire in Colorado history during modern times as there was a bad one some 150 years ago that spread from this area to a pass over 60 miles west of here.

Ernie

Ernie, you've been in my thoughts a lot lately and hoping you and your family were not affected by these fires. How very sad for the people who lost their homes... and because of arson. Stay safe my friend.

Rosie

Things pretty much back to normal for us. Both kids are in their homes and the firecrews are doing a fabulous job along with the aerial drops of water and slurry. Fire still burns but containment should be within a couple of weeks with hot spots still burning for weeks after that.

One reason my sons town, Green Mt Falls, took so long to open back up was an invasion of many BEARS who sensed that no people were around for over a week and also sensed the garbage which the trash company had not been able to pick up. So they had a glorious feast and also enjoyed the fresh drinking water and a chance to swim in the town lake. The officials had to chase all the bears out of town before letting the human residents back in. All is well again.

Glad to hear that things worked out for you and your family.

Scary to think about what could happen in the Sierra this year...

I've worried about that same thing... there's a lot of fuel on the ground. It's concerning to think about the lightening storms this summer.

Not CO, but unfortunate none-the-less:

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=116995