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| Photo courtesy The Daily Camera |
This was the scene at Paul’s apartment complex early Friday morning, a short while after a fire broke out in the building right across from his. He called us about 5:00 AM and announced that he had been woken up by a policeman banging on his door yelling “Fire! Get out now!”
He grabbed his shoes, phone, and backpack and raced out of the building. The smoke was too thick for him to safely drive and besides fire trucks quickly blocked it in so he walked across the street where we picked him up a short while later. From the safety of our living room we followed live streams of the fire made by local Denver new stations. With relief we spotted Paul’s building and his truck and could see that neither was on fire. Two buildings across from Paul’s were on fire and we later learned that twenty four units were destroyed. Paul spent the day at work and then went back to his apartment armed with our three air purifiers to clean out any residual smoke. As my sister Jean texted, "What a life experience for Paul!"
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| Photo courtesy The Daily Camera |
If that wasn’t enough excitement, on Saturday another wildfire broke out in Boulder. We awoke to a warm and dry morning, and the pretty spring-like day drew many people outdoors. When I walked Turbo up in the park I was impressed by how crowded the trails were. Back at home I left the patio door open so Turbo could run in and out and I opened a few windows to air out the house.
But during the early afternoon the wind picked up. I was working in my studio and had to close the windows there as the wind turned more gusty and began blowing fabric pieces around. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who was reminded of the strong winds on the day the Marshall fire broke out three months ago leaving 1,000 families homeless.
About 2:00 I got a call from Ben asking if I knew where the big plume of smoke was coming from. I hadn’t smelled any smoke but ran upstairs to look out the balcony facing south and there it was, rising up from south Boulder. Paul texted saying there was a fire near NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is housed in a distinctive building in the southern foothills about two miles from where we live. It’s where we do our Meals on Wheels route, so we know the neighborhood well.
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| Photo courtesy The Daily Camera |
The fire grew quickly and while I followed its progress on Twitter I took photos of all the rooms in our house and made a list of what to take if we were evacuated, two tasks that I put on my “to do” list after the Marshall fire but hadn’t actually done yet.
Soon it became clear that this fire was moving south and not towards us, and it wasn’t long before evacuation notices went out to that area. By nightfall, approximately 19,000 homes were evacuated, including the two large neighborhoods of Table Mesa and Martin’s Acres, and the town of Eldorado Springs. Where did all those people go? While some landed in the East Boulder Recreation Center for the night and some drove or took a bus out of town, I suspect that most went to the homes of families and friends. I know we both made and received calls and texts checking on who needed a place to stay.
The hikers who had crowded the trails had to evacuate and rock climbers high on the walls of Eldorado Canyon had to make their way safely down and out of that park. This photo is from a video taken by Ben Holden on his hike out of the foothills.
This morning things are looking better, with the winds dying down, the fire at 21% containment, and no loss of lives or structures reported. The evacuation notice for 1200 housing units was lifted, leaving 700 still waiting. Fire officials are describing the NCAR Fire as a "low intensity" fire, a very "different animal" from the Marshall fire.
In the hope that we will have a good day, I'm posting a more cheerful sign of the changing of seasons.
Wow, Mary, that is horrible. Colorado has had more than enough disasters, natural and otherwise. It is very lucky that Paul was spared. A frightening experience. Take care.
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