Fire Danger: High
On the way out of work, I caught wind of a large grass fire burning pretty close to my home. After verifying that I wouldn't be placing myself in danger, I grabbed my camera and started clicking...
Current stats: this is one of about 5 fires burning in the same area, probably caused by flying embers. Temperature at the time of the fires was about 75 degrees, winds were from the SW gusting to over 50mph, and relative humidity was in the single digits. News reports say only a shopping center was evacuated, but as you can see in some pics here, I'm betting that there were some homes evacuated, too. Only US 85/87 was closed. It runs parallel to I-25, and was right in the path of the flames. As of 7:00pm MST, the only structure that burned was a pumping house located by Fountain Creek. I have not heard of any cause yet.
Streaming news coverage can be found on KKTV.com.
Hot stuff
Heading south on I-25, we get our first warning of a problem.
After the South Academy Blvd. exit on I-25.
Looking through the trees at some flames still present.
Definitely still some hot spots.
Another shot of the hot spots. You can also see that the fire was not just in the creek valley.
The smoke from this fire placed a thick haze over all of Colorado Springs.
A spot that has already burned out.
Looking back on the active part. There were many cars parked alongside the road with people taking pictures. Bet mine go online first!
Looking north at the fire zone. Downtown Colorado Springs is to the left of the power poles there, not that you can see it that clearly.
This fire got close enough to the interstate that for a time the right lane was closed.
The smoke was still black in spots: this fire definitely still has some flare ups.
The power lines aren't down: there's a ravine just after the hill.
One of many places where the fire engines left the interstate to help battle the fire.
Utilities crews are already onsite repairing damaged power, phone, and cable lines.
The fire came close enough to this house to singe its fence.
CDOT crews lend a hand to the closure of SB 85.
Looking south down US 85.
How CDOT marks the closure of SB 85. NB is still open, but you can't get to it. The closure was being lifted as I drove by.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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