Colorado!

[wildoates]

Is everyone okay?

[Matrix4b]

The fires really haven't affected me and I would say that Denver in general is unaffected. Longmont/Fort Collins area had some fires that evacuated some people. Not sure about Colorado Springs or Boulder, though I work in Boulder. Well on the edge of it. A week back here at work we had a lot of smoke that covered the front range and it hid the mountains but that cleared up a bit. We had a short afternoon rain yesterday here at my work, so hopefully that put out some of it.

This is simply what you get when you have June days in the 100s and not much rain in spring. Dry fields and fires later. From what I have heard, though I could be wrong: None of the fires was due to a person lighting it or accidently being responsible. It's all Mother Nature refreshing herself. Should be a good fertile year next year, hope we get the moisture next year and good snow pack this winter to support it.

Matrix
(Living in Thornton, just north of Denver.)

[wildoates]

We are well-acquainted with wildfires here in California, unfortunately. A few years ago my sister was threatened by one and had to be on immediate evacuation standby for a few days. It passed her by, but it was close enough to see it, less than a mile. Too close for comfort.

I think Colorado Springs is getting hammered.

[wayneb]

The northwest corner of the Springs is getting pretty badly burned, but the rest of the city is smoky, but otherwise OK. One of our sons is down visiting his girlfriend in Fountain (Southeast corner of the C. S. metro area) and he says that they can see the smoke rise from the horizon to the northwest, but no fires are actually visible.

We've been thru several close encounters with wildfires in SoCal (even having to evacuate when we lived in Fontana and the fire started just a few hundred yards from our house), but these Colorado fires are the worst we've ever seen. Anne (my wife) even had her 15 mins of fame during that fire when she was interviewed by a N.Y. Times reporter, and she got front-page coverage! (Have a look here: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/25/us...-evacuate.html )

[John E.]

I do live in Fort Collins, we get some smokey mornings. It does seem to be getting better. Our fire is about 75% contained. The fire was about 5 miles away from our house earlier when it first got started. Thanks for asking.

[wildoates]

Yeah, it looks bad, but I hope it won't be much longer that evacuated people can go back to their homes...assuming they're still standing, anyway.

It'd be awesome if it weren't for the human cost, because fires are spectacular.

[zackterry]

I'm in Commerce City, Co and we're smelling the smoke pretty good here. Kinda typical for this time of year tho, especially after a fairly dry winter.

[chop1620]

Hey Guys, I live in colorado Springs, right on the border of manitou spring and hwy 24. This has been a gnarly fire. The fire fighters are kicking ass, such a great job. Them as well as their efforts are very much appreciated here. Although I have not had to evacuate, many of my immediate friends and family have had to leave their houses. Hopefully we can see how resilient humanity can be in the face of such a tragedy, as we re-build for a brighter future.

On a lighter note, i did have to pre evacuate once, so i had to take my meads on a joy ride. In the process I think that it was a good degaussing trip for two of them. the other to are trying to age, hopefully they will be good. So love your mead, give it a nice relaxing ride every once in a while.

[wildoates]

Forget the kids, pets, priceless family heirlooms, and important financial papers...but get that mead in the back seat, pronto!

[chop1620]

defiantly, gotta make sure i have the nectar of the gods! Gotta prioritize when disaster strikes; wife, mead, books, important documents, ....