The Four Mile Fire
This was the view from our back porch as of Monday evening, looking west:
A fairly large forest fire is burning in the foothills of Boulder. We saw the beginning of it at around 10:30am while out walking Thatcher and watched it quickly grow into the major conflagration it is now. Unseasonably high temperatures combined with a drier-than-normal August brought about what amounts to a tinderbox in Colorado at the moment.
EDITED to include this time-lapse video of what we were basically watching from Erie last night, shot from Flagstaff last night:
Since we saw the first plumes, we’ve seen or learned the following about what is now being called the Four Mile Fire:
- Flashes of fire visible by the naked eye almost 20mi away. Turns out those may have been exploding propane tanks, common for heating in the mountains.
- A friend’s husband, who’s middle name just happens to be Everett, has been working nonstop since the fire was first reported. He’s fine, but not expected home for several days.
- Anna’s grandparents, aunt, and uncle have been evacuated safely along with their pets. But leaving their home on Sugarloaf at about 5pm last night, Anna’s aunt saw the fire roughly 100yds from the house. We haven’t heard any updates on whether or not their home is still standing.
- A fried of the family who works with CDOT has been sent to help clear dead wildlife from roads in the area.
- Slurry bombers are coming in repeatedly over where I work in Broomfield trying to slow the fire – which has yet to be contained along any of it’s boundaries.
For some more perspective on high huge this fire is, check out some satellite imagery here. The smoke plume is reaching well into Kansas and Nebraska. In Erie, it was unsettlingly apocalyptic.
We hope to learn more soon, particularly about Anna’s grandparent’s place. Thoughts are with all those affected, and with those fighting…
Categorised as: Meatspace
Thoughts and prayers with you and yours. I’ve got some friends up there too.