Any word on the Colorado fire?

[John Kasaian]

I hope our Colorado friends are safe!

[adam satushek]

I can see 2 from my balcony in boulder, but safe so far. the one in Colorado springs sounds awful though.....

[Jeff Conrad]

The Colorado Springs Gazette (http://www.gazette.com/) has pretty good coverage of the Waldo Canyon fire, including a map (http://www3.gazette.com/fire/) showing the fire perimeter and evacuation areas. The fire has made a hell of a mess, destroying 346 homes so far, but the weather has been more cooperative today, with lower temperatures and much lower wind than yesterday. As nearly as I can tell, the fire perimeter hasn’t changed much in over a day. But the fire is still only 5% contained, so the battle is far from over.

The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/) has a page (http://www.denverpost.com/wildfires) with coverage of all the Colorado fires.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

This will likely go on all summer sadly. We need to ban all fireworks in the state both for private and public use, or I am afraid next week will be hell. I am 30 min north of Colorado Springs and the smoke is horrible at times, then when the wind shifts and comes from the north we get the smoke from the fires around Ft Collins. My heart goes out to my friends in both communities. I have a good friend who has a home just south of the Air Force academy in the mountains and I am afraid he is in harms way.

[Jim Edmond]

I live on the south end of Colorado Springs, about 10 miles from the fire. The biggest problem at this location has been smoke. My wife has been unable to go to work for 2 days as her office is just within the evacuation zone, to the east of the hard hit neighborhoods. She watched the smoke and occasional flare-ups all day Tuesday. About 4:30, a strong westerly wind picked up and the fire jumped 2 fire lines and exploded over the ridge. It took only minutes for the flames to reach those neighborhoods.

Veteran firefighters were shocked at what they saw, never having experienced anything like it. The good news is there have been no injuries to those heroes to date.

I wish the best for Eric's friend, and everyone involved.

[Kirk Gittings]

I wish you all the best. This is a nightmare. We went though this in ABQ a few years ago as the river forests burned through the heart of the city.

In all honesty I'm so glad my kids finished Colorado College before this happened!

[Jim Edmond]

Aerial photographs of the destruction are now up: http://www.gazette.com/sections/slideshow/?id=14963560

[Kirk Gittings]

Wow! Where is that in relation to the main city?

[Frank Petronio]

Good luck and wishes to all.

Just out of curiosity, how common is fire insurance with people there? How much does it cost? Is it comparable to living in a flood plain or less so?

[Jim Edmond]

Kirk, it's the Mountain Shadows neighborhood which is NW of downtown. It's the location of the Flying-W-Ranch attraction, which was completely destroyed.

[Jim Edmond]

Frank, most people have fire insurance which is part of the usual homeowners policy. Not like flood insurance which is only available is designated flood plains.

[Frank Petronio]

That's good at least!

I always wondered. The only natural hazards we have in NY are our politicians.

[Alan Curtis]

In Costal Florida, homeowners insurance has quadrupled in the past twenty years because of hurricanes. I'll take a hurricane anytime over what is happening in CO. My house is built to withstand a hurricane but, not a forest fire.