I Have the Fixins for S'Mores, But Not Permission...

Colorado is on fire...seriously!


There's a MASSIVE fire burning about 20 or so miles north of my house (don't worry, we're not in danger from it) that has consumed upwards of 50,000 acres (imagine how many farms or ranches that would be!), destroyed over 100 buildings, and taken the life of one civilian...

There's another small blaze (only 5000 acres) to the West of us, about 60 miles...

Out of State, there's a portion of a State Park in Wyoming on fire (12,000 acres, no buildings), and one outside of Raton, NM, which is just south of the border of Colorado (14,000 acres)...

I have marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers, and a fire pit...but the County in which we live has just put out a ban.  No charcoal grills, no fire pits, no firecrackers...until further notice.

It's scary...up until today, the wind was blowing the smoke to the East - all we got was the show of billowing clouds of smoke during the day, and, if you were close enough, the glow of the flames after dark.  Last night, about midnight, the wind stopped blowing.  When we awoke this morning, it was to a pall of smoke hanging over us, and the overwhelming scent of fire.

I love campfires.  I love cookouts, I love the crackle and the scent, and the amazing dance of the flames as they lick the wood...

But not today.  I know of at least 3 dozen families from Church who are now displaced - don't know if their houses will be standing when they are allowed back...I know of at least 50 friends who have loved ones fighting the blaze...

We finally got air support (the fire is burning on a mountainside so no hoses, no trucks...just hiking up the mountain, cutting down brush and digging trenches for firebreaks) late yesterday afternoon - a whopping 3 fixed-wing and 1 helo.

This morning, someone finally realized that there were buildings in the path of this fire (at least 4 subdivisions)...and they reassigned other planes and helicopters to assist us.

As of right now, the fire is approximately 5% contained.  Incident Commander states that control (no hot spots, no smoldering) could take as long as 3 months...

They're lighting back fires, digging trenches, and the air support is dropping fire retardant around buildings, hoping and praying it will be enough...