some of you may have been aware of the various devastating fires across Colorado over the past couple of weeks...tonight, the "Waldo Canyon" wildfire down near Colorado Springs absolutely blew up and entered the populated NW area of Colorado Springs, near the Air Force Academy. The firestorm came charging down the mountain at reports of 60 miles an hour and burned many structures, including the Flying W Ranch and lots of homes. There was nothing that authorities could do but watch entire neighborhoods become engulfed by fire.

Current 9:00pm Status:
32,000 people have been evacuated
6,200 acres with 5% contained
20,085 residences/160 commercial structures threatened
764 personnel fighting the fire

Check the pics below, and the twitter feed. Sad, sad day for many. Extra prayers if you can spare them.

https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/ ... canyonfire

Live feed: http://www.krdo.com/news/WATCH-LIVE-KRD ... index.html

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacente ... ame%20here



View from Pikes Peak:

Some of those photos are amazingly beautiful.

Its a shame they are depicting such destruction.

Hopefully everyone in the area is safe and will have a home to go back to sooner rather than later.

My sister-in-law lives in Colorado Springs and said the fire was 3 miles from her house last night. They were packing things up to get the kids out and over to Denver for a few days. It sounds pretty bad. They could definitely use some of that rain that Florida is getting. Some of those photos look like the aftermath of a strategic bombing raid. Take care everybody.

When I heard about this, the first thing I thought was you guys because you're the only guy I know that lives there. It seems like there are fires, tornadoes or tropical storms every other month, but I know the victims are marked for a lifetime.

Like CrutchMan said, if only nature could be switched around to pour you enough rain from the mess going down in Florida. It's just plain unfair is all I can say. Wish I had the Weather Wizard's magic wand or something.

Stay safe, 'Fly.

heh, don't think the Weather Wizard didn't cross my mind at one point...thanks for the concern, though.

Luckily, the fires backed down a bit after that first day, but there was still a lot of devastation - two deaths, and over 350 homes burned, with dozens more uninhabitable. And we are still under extreme fire danger and fire bans statewide, so I'm hoping that no idiots start anything with fireworks tonight.

Here's before-and-after pics of the homes. Sad.

http://www.denverpost.com/wildfires/ci_20962928