Firefighters are finally beginning to make some progress against the High Park wildfire, Colorado's third largest ever so far. Lighter winds have allowed over 1,200 firefighters, 10 air tankers and 14 helicopters to bring the containment level to around 10%, with more progress expected today. But it will still be many days before this fire is considered contained and much longer than that - perhaps months - before it is completely controlled. Rough, inaccessible terrain, near-drought conditions and strong, unpredictable winds make this a difficult and dangerous job, but one of the recurring stories is the extreme dedication and bravery of those fighting to save lives and homes.
So far, this devastating fire has burned over 46,000 acres, destroyed at least 118 homes, with numbers expected to climb from there, and has claimed one life. Over 2,000 have been evacuated, but shifting winds allowed some residents to return to their homes yesterday, with several other areas expected to re-open today. However, the fire is now threatening some new areas, and pre-evacuation notices have been delivered to two additional areas northwest of Fort Collins.
Fellow AR member Chris Hardy, his wife Pat and their doggie Cache were evacuated Saturday for the second time this year, and still have no word on their home in Poudre Canyon - as of the community meeting last night, the situation there was "too dynamic" to report on structure losses or let residents back in. They're hopeful of getting some news later today.
The picture above is what sunset looked like last night - the actively burning area spreads almost the entire width of the photograph, and the lower foothills are shrouded in smoke. The photo below shows one of the most active fire areas yesterday afternoon.
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