Black Forest fire claims 360 homes, most ever in Colorado wildfire Read more: Black

[Donger]

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...inds-lightning

I know a lot of you flat landers like to visit our great state on vacation, so just in case you hadn't heard, our wildfire season started a little early and nasty...

BLACK FOREST —The Black Forest fire burning north of Colorado Springs has now destroyed at least 360 homes and consumed 15,000 acres, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said at a news conference early Thursday. The list of homes that has been evaluated has been posted online and is updated whenever possible.

Maketa stressed that the evaluation of structures is ongoing. "Home assessments can change in 10 minutes," he said. "We are trying to keep it as accurate as possible."

The evacuation area includes 94,000 acres and 13,000 homes as of Thursday morning. Some 38,000 people have been evacuated.

The fire was first reported Monday about 1 p.m. No cause has been established and there is no containment.

No injuries to residents or firefighters have been reported, although Maketa noted that there were reports of people who refused to evacuate. One person is reported to be missing.

Maketa said that efforts to check the address of the missing person have been hampered by the fire behavior.

No wildfire in Colorado history has destroyed more homes. The Waldo Canyon fire west of Colorado Springs in 2012 destroyed 347 homes.

The evacuation zone for the Black Forest fire was expanded early Thursday morning because of "dynamic changing conditions," the sheriff's office said.

Overnight, sheriff's deputies went door-to-door in the expanded evacuation area.

The zone now also includes Highway 83 east to Eastonville Road, and Walker Road north to South County Line Road, linking an Elbert County evacuation area to the original El Paso County evacuation area.

[Garcia Bronco]

It was so smokey outside that my eyes were burning until I went to bed at midnight last night

[kepp]

So we're planning a trip to Vail. Should we be concerned?

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

It was so smokey outside that my eyes were burning until I went to bed at midnight last night

Put the blunt down

[Donger]

Originally Posted by kepp

So we're planning a trip to Vail. Should we be concerned?

That depends. Do you have a lot of money?

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Donger

That depends. Do you have a lot of money?

Money budgeted for the vacation, or money in general? Though I suppose the answer to both is, "no".

[Donger]

Originally Posted by kepp

Money budgeted for the vacation, or money in general? Though I suppose the answer to both is, "no".

I was joking. Vail can be expensive.

No, you don't need to worry as of right now.

[houstonwhodat]

I was thinking about moving to the Denver/Estes Park area.

Does this happen often?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by houstonwhodat

I was thinking about moving to the Denver/Estes Park area.

Does this happen often?

Wild fires? Yes, every year. Some are worse than others. If you live in the foothills, mountains or anywhere else there are trees, it's a danger. I wouldn't let it stop you from moving here, though.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by Donger

The pine beetle thing is actually slowing down significantly, albeit mostly due to the fact that they are running out of food. Spruce beetles are the new worry.

But, yes, there's plenty of dead pines just waiting to go up in flames here.

Yep that’s the way it is all throughout the entire rocky mountain region. You can thank the environazi's for that. EVERY time the forest service wants to go in and clean some of that out, or thin it out, those ****ing hippies file a lawsuit. At this point, there is so much fuel that when a fire does get started, it's damn near impossible to put it out.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Yep that’s the way it is all throughout the entire rocky mountain region. You can thank the environazi's for that. EVERY time the forest service wants to go in and clean some of that out, or thin it out, those ****ing hippies file a lawsuit. At this point, there is so much fuel that when a fire does get started, it's damn near impossible to put it out.

Yup. We are facing the same thing in the National Forests here (NE Washington). The last couple of years have had wet summers but once we get a couple of hot, dry summers, the forests are going to burn to the ground. There are huge swaths of dead trees thanks to the pine beetles and not being able to clean them out with logging. There is also a huge amount of fuel on the ground thanks to not being able to clean out the windfall, etc.

Once a fire starts here, it won't be going out until the snow comes.

[TK421]

I don't take shit from forests!

[sd4chiefs]

I'm glad I don't live somewhere that's prone to fire storms.

[MMXcalibur]

Yeah, the fire is only a zip code north of me. The Waldo Canyon fire was just across the city last year. If me and God are playing Battleship, then I'm winning.

[Rasputin]

Man this suck. I got word that Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch went up in flames and I grew up going there every summer with Dad and the troop.

Have lots of memories sad about this