Thread: Newest Photo of the Waldo Canyon Fire outside of Colorado Springs

God's Speed to all anywhere near those terrible fires.

It is almost impossible to fight a fire like that one: 10 years of drought, a high temperature spike,
strong and erratic winds, heavy fuel load, steep terrain, and a fully established burn with tremendous momentum.

Firefighters might be able to make a stand at certain points on the fire front, but only if they
have enough resources and at least 2 reliable escape routes, in case it gets away from them.

Flying tanker aircraft in those conditions is extremely dangerous: heavy loads,
turbulance, poor visibility, "low and slow". Those pilots have a lot of skill and guts.

That fire will continue to expand until the weather changes or it runs out of fuel. In the
meantime, they can only attack the fire from the rear (upwind, downslope) by gradually
building a line around it, and cutting it off in a "pincer" movement. Until then, it's
"protect the exposures" as much as possible, and pray for rain.

Good luck to you all in C-Springs.

Paul

Mountain Shadows I guess is now burning,,,

We are hearing that there were several inaccurate reports about how this started

Changing my Avatar until the Waldo Canyon Fire is controlled and our Families and Friends are safe again.

Although I might not be living in Colorado now, Colorado will always live in my heart..

Fire is now 25% contained, so it is progress!