Colorado Fires

We just had the most devastating fires here in Colorado Springs.  One of the main reasons it was so devasting was because it was so big and paired with the crazy wind we have, you never know what direction the fires will head.  One minute they are headed up the mountain and the next back down.  A good friend of mine was on vacation and her house was severely threatened.  I went to get some things for her just in case.  Better safe then sorry!  Although there was no containment, the fires seemed to be hanging out in the mountains and only a few subdivisions were evacuated with a few more on pre-evacuation orders.  (Learned lots of new things throughout the ordeal, like what is meant by pre-evacuation and mitigation.)  My friend came back to town and needed some of her things.  I went over to her house to drop them off, and we watched the 4pm news conference.  It looked like they were getting a hold of the fire. They still hadn't contained it but they were remaining positive.  We went outside to get her some things and her street was completely filled with smoke.  It was windy and ashes were everywhere.  It hurt to even breath.  The winds were getting worse and you could barely see.  Within 20 minutes, she received a reverse 911 call ordering a mandatory evacuation.  It's still all a blur to me...it just happened so fast.  I literally could see flames coming down the mountain as I was leaving.  It was like a scene from a movie.  What I would do to get that picture out of my head.  There are still times when I close my eyes I can still see it.  What happened next was not pretty. It was so terrifying and sad to see all these homes and businesses go up in flames.  Many people had no notice and left with nothing and lost everything.  Thankfully our house was a few miles away and we felt safe but with the winds blowing in every direction I don't think anyone felt safe.  They had no control over this fire and it felt like every hour they were either evacuating or pre-evacuating more people.  Thankfully my friends' home is okay, but I know a few families who lost their homes and some who lost parts of their homes.  I also know people whose homes were saved.  On a street with every home gone, there are some with 1-2 houses still standing.  Our firefighters worked all night long to protect these homes.  They would sleep on the streets to be closer to the fires so they were there immediately when they were needed.  They are truly heroes.

Here are some pictures of the fires in action from our backyard

A couple of days later, the weather started cooperating, we even got a little rain, and they began to gain some containment.  We decided to go thank the firefighters at a shift change as they drove by.  It was such a great experience and I'm so glad that we did it.  The street was packed.  People were on all four corners of the intersection and some in the middle of the street.  There was even a band.  When the firefighters drove by the place went absolutely CRAZY!!!  They were covered in ashes and you could smell the smoke on them. People where screaming, waving, running up to them to give them high fives, throwing candy at them, etc.