CO Fires

From the BBC:
"Colorado Springs under threat as 32,000 flee Waldo fire"

More than 32,000 people have fled their homes after a raging wildfire threatening the US city of Colorado Springs doubled in size. Traffic and smoke choked the streets as people evacuated the city and the nearby US Air Force Academy. Some 800 firefighters are battling the fire, which is 5% contained, over 24 sq miles (62 sq km). Evacuation orders are in place in much of the city. President Barack Obama is to tour the affected areas on Friday. Just weeks into the annual wildfire season, there are also fires in Utah and Wyoming and Montana.

 About the Wildfire:

• Started Saturday 23 June, around 12:00
• Fire origin located in Pike National Forest, Colorado
• Scorched 15,324 acres
• Currently 5% contained, expected containment date Monday 16 July
• Spreading extremely fast
• Adverse weather conditions

The Waldo Canyon Fire, which began on Saturday, has been fanned towards Colorado Springs by winds of up to 65mph (104km/h). "It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine," Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said after surveying the fire from the air on Tuesday. "It's almost surreal. You look at that, and it's like nothing I've seen before." Heavy ash and smoke was billowing from the hillsides west of Colorado Springs and southbound traffic was temporarily closed on Interstate 25, which runs through the city. Fleeing residents covered their faces with T-shirts to breathe through the smoke. "It took us an hour to drive a mile because of the traffic. It was really tense. As we were driving, the ash was falling out of the sky. We couldn't see the street because of the smoke," Colorado Springs resident Hillory Davis, 22, told the BBC. Meanwhile, Richard Brown, the Colorado Springs fire chief, described the blaze as a "firestorm of epic proportions". The city is Colorado's second largest, situated just off the main north-south highway. It is home to the sprawling campus of the US Air Force Academy, the top school for cadets joining the Air Force. On Wednesday afternoon, academy officials said the fire had spread to about 10 acres of the campus. Some 2,100 people were evacuated from base housing overnight. Firefighters from the Air Force and local crews were trying to stop the blaze reaching the academy.  Elsewhere in Colorado, the High Park fire in the west of the state has been burning for weeks and remains barely half contained, although fewer homes are under imminent threat.

^ My sister, brother and his family all live in Colorado Springs. So far, they haven't been told to evacuate, but they can see and smell the smoke everywhere they go. The picture above is from a friend on Facebook who also lives in CO Springs. Hopefully they will be able to get everything contained so no more people have to leave their homes. I don't think Obama should go to the city - the officials there have enough to deal with than worry about him and his Secret Service. Why doesn't he wait until the fires are put out or go to some of the shelters outside the city? I guess I'll be keeping a close watch on the news and on my phone to see what updates there are. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18612897