My back yard is on fire.

That is awful!  I hope you and your family stay safe, and don't have to evacuate!  If it was set by someone, I hope they find them soon so that there is no people or homes lost.  

Makes me sick to think someone is starting these fires.  A buddy of mine lives out there and was driving a rental truck.  He was pulled over and thoroughly questioned by the U.S. Marshals.  He of course is not the arsonist, but just know that the Marshals are working hard...

I love visiting Colorado, and hate to see it on fire..

My back yard figuratively... I won't be evacuating. I live in the city. So far the wind has been mostly favorable, but at night it shifts and the smoke settles into the city. We have to close up the house so no cooling at night. My wife has asthma and it really messes her up. You used to be able to get by with no AC here, but it has been pretty bad.The wind shifted during my commute home and I had to ride through ash. I have nothing to complain about though compared to all those people that are directly impacted.

There is a pass that goes up to other communities to the West... so this fire so far is threatening our foothills and those communities. Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, the Air Force Academy, and Woodland Park are all threatened right now.

There has not been any reports of mishaps, or mobs with pitch forks... but we have a very large rural mountain community up there. I have no doubt there are some armed citizens on the look out. It breaks my heart. It started Saturday.

yep, it's really sad to see all these fires...especially so early in the summer. I think there about a dozen wild fires in Colorado right now.  The Waldo canyon I believe the most concerning. My Aunt has a cabin in Cascade I take my family to stay in every summer.  If the fire jumps Hwy 24 the cabin most likely will be gone, as will a lot of homes.  Colorado had such a low snow pack this winter and we just have not been getting much rain.  I work in Golden and everytime I look out my window I expect to see smoke in the foothills.  Fortunately, I have not seen any smoke nearby.  If the weather pattern does not change, soon, there are going to be alot more fires to deal with.

Again, very sad.

Thank you for your words of caution.... Thanks EVERYONE for your prayers and thoughts. I'm worried about my wife. We went to Wyoming last week to pick up our Grandson that is 2.5 yo. We were going to have him for 3 weeks, but we are taking him back Thursday... maybe tomorrow. We are really worried about air quality.

Come on... Not Boulder!

This is reminding me of the year of the Hayman fire.  That year I remember standing at the curbside check-in at Denver International Airport and having ash rain down on me.  And it was so dry that the heat from car engines was igniting grass if the cars were driven into a field.

I cant imagine the physical strain the firefighters are under working in this heat.  They are doing a truly heroic job!

The news is just insane to watch.  We are in Longmont and lightning hit our neighbors tree today (like 10 feet from our house) and it burst a gas line.  The very nice excel crew just wrapped up the pretty major operation of replace a pipe under a broken tree.  We were so darn lucky the tree didn't burst into flames as it touches our neighbor's house and is within 5 feet or so of our house. Pretty amazing how many people and earth movers they can get out when there is gas everywhere.

When it hit the tree I had to run out and make sure it had not hit our house it was so loud.

We did get some rain out of the storm (which is probably why the tree didn't catch on fire.) 

I just feel so terrible for everyone impacted by this and the amazing firefighters who seem to keep getting more thrown at them.

What a horrible day!!!

The winds shifted to the West. It exploded up Queens canyon jumping primary and secondary containment. 65 mph hour gusts from dry showers pushed it into Mountain Shadows subdivision. Flying W Ranch, a fixture of the Springs for 60 years, was burned to the ground. Many homes lost. 32,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. The U.S. Air Force Academy has evacuated.

It's due west of me and we were right in the path of the plume. Rained ash. I'm heading out tomorrow to take the Grandson back to Wyoming. I'm not easily rattled... but I am. It's heart breaking.

Wow....I'm sorry.  

Forgive my ignorance.....but isn't fire, in the long run, good for forests and the larger ecosystem in general?  I know they have regenerative properties on the back end and have even been started by managers in other times. 

Just so you know.....I'm VERY sympathetic....we lost all we owned to a fire in 1998.  I'm not talking about property/life loss here....just the overall health of forests and ecosystems.

It's cool. Sorry about your fire.

Ya, you are right. That debate has raged for a couple of decades now. Fire is healthy for the forest, to burn fuel so it does not accumulate. But man's interface and property must be protected so fires are no allowed to spread and fuel builds up year after year. When a fire does occur it gets huge fast.

I don't know what to say. There are always mitigation efforts here year round. Controlled burns... in fact controlled burns many times get out of hand. Right now conditions are just so horrible that nothing is going to slow it.

These big fires that blow up are not good because they actually sterilize the ground and nothing grows back for a very long time opening everything up for erosion. We had the Hayman fire here in 2002 and that land is still scared.

That makes perfect sense....especially with the ultra dry conditions now.  And I remember reading about forest fires being worse now because of the accumulation of fuel.  I suppose man and nature will always be at odds.  

Good luck to you.  I appreciate your comment about our fire....but I can tell you, without hesitation, it was the most liberating experience of my life.  You learn what's REALLY important....and you quit saving all that other stuff. 

Again....take care and good luck.