Any TDR members affected by the fires in the west?

[Andy Perreault]

Just hoping that our friends in Colorado, California, New Mexico, etc. , who may be near or impacted by the fires are okay.

I'm a little too far away to help, but I'm sure that if the call goes out for horse trailers, hauling, help with evacuating, etc. , many members would be willing to help out. Let us know how you're doing.

Andy

 

[Nordby]

Good news right now, it is raining and hailing fairly hard about 20 miles east of the fire. That is why I am awake, not used to the sound of rain and I couldn't sleep. Lots of lightning though, and some of it is dry, and they are saying the storms are caused by the fire right now, so the firefighters may not be seeing this help. Cooler and more humid at least.



www.9news.com has some of the best updates on this, and links to forest service websites.



Not directly affected yet, I'm in Monument, right on Pike National Forest, West of I-25. Pike is closed, even down here, A west wind would have made things a lot different.



A bunch of us neighbors are on standby to help with horses in the voluntary evac area (Perry Park), and have destinations and 4 trucks/trailers lined up for one trainer with > 14 horses. Another friend who is a Pike National Forest Ranger is unsure if his house is there, just past the Douglas County line on highway 67 -can't get there to even help him. Arggh.



The smoke plume's when it blows up are unreal - looks like a bomb went off, or a huge thunderhead. Just hazy smoke here, it is all blowing northeast to Denver right now. Ash was falling there last I heard, and DIA was doing landings by instrument (100 miles away) for two days.



What is really scary is that this is only the start. They'll get this one out and another will go. Two fires have burned grazing at T-Cross operations south of town - one lost 7000 acres of grazing, the other lost lost > 1000. Another 30 acre fire in black forest, another one in Cascade, one < 1 mile from here that I grabbed horses in a trailer out of that took 5 loads from slurry bombers and a helicopter to put out 35 acres of grass and oak, one in the springs took 15 acres two days ago. Those are just ones within a 40 mile radius of where I live. Not mentioning Canyon City (35 houses burned), the one in Glenwood right now, many houses lost. Durango and Trinidad have fires nearby, New Mexico has a huge one as well. Gonna be a long summer.



I'll post any more as I hear it, but the web site is the best place for comprehensive info.

jon

 

[Sregorb]

I'm up watching the latest on this also and was doing some educational background reading on the coal seam fires. All I can say is wow. I've always heard that coal mine fires are the worst but I never realized the extent to which they burn. (This is what caused one of the other fires in Colorado over by Glenwood Springs. A coal seam fire surfaced) They can burn for thousands of years!!! The Glenwood one has burned since 1910. Here's a link to a more recent one (scary to think this could just as easily been my hometown!) if your interested.

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm



I also didn't realize that China has hundreds of these coal seam fires that are literally eating the earth out from underneath. How come the greenie's aren't screaming about that pollution?!?



Anyway, we've already had our brush with prairie land brushfire down here by the house on the SE side of the springs too



Brian

 

[Sregorb]

On Call.....

I forgot.

I AM in the Denver fire area and can throw my hat in the arena for helping to evac (on days off) if I can.

6x12x6 enclosed ramp trailer and storage on standby if needed.



G'luck to those in the line of fire.



Brian

 

[illflem]

Here's an informative site http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Fires/ I used when Montana was on fire. I feel for you guys, good luck.

 

[Jeff H]

You can have all the rain you wan't. Many towns up north are flooded up to there ying yangs.