That is an awesome timelapse. Very telling. Sobering, indeed. A tragic event outside of Colorado Springs.
Obvious in the video are the strong winds that have hampered firefighting efforts across the region, combined with abnormally dry and hot conditions. Most camera angles are looking toward the southwest. The Air Force Academy Chapel is visible as the sharply white-peaked building in the right center of most frames. The southern edge of the AFA housing was evac'd if I remember correctly. As of last night, I believe I heard of about 85% containment, with 100% hoped for this weekend. Thankfully, the controlling high is slowly moving east and southern monsoonal moisture is starting to return.
The High Park fire has been burning for several weeks about 130 miles north of C. Springs in the Poudre Canyon area just west of Ft Collins where my kids live, on the east side of the Divide and due east of here. It grew to over 87,000 acres (2nd largest fire ever in CO) but is now, thankfully, 100% contained. We visited them this past weekend, having to go over through the northern Laramie route as the canyon road was closed. Sunday it re-opened and we returned via the canyon, seeing evidence of the northern edge of the fire and places where it had jumped the road and even the parallel Poudre River. Travel south into the burn area is still restricted, and over 280 homes and one life were lost in the blaze. I was later told that the road we traveled to Laramie Friday had been closed over the weekend for yet another fire.
My hat's off to the thousands of firefighters (over 1,800 at High Park alone), law enforcement and military personnel and volunteers involved in fighting these fires. On scene it's dangerous and brutally tiring work.
@CV, what are you doing and where? PM me.
the High Park fire from my son's house in south Ft Collins June 10...
