Ellefoxie's Blog - page 58

I heard this tune on the radio today and I just had to track it down on YouTube.
I think that under the circumstances it emphasises all our prayers and especially as the footage of this video is in Colorado, which goes through the mountains and the views of the vegetation that may be gone now.


Enjoy.

Today is the 12th day since the fire started in Waldo Canyon, Colorado.
The fire is still raging in places mostly in/on/around "islands" in the main part of the fire. These "islands" as they call them are just that, islands of wildland that have escaped the fire until now, being gradually consumed by the fire. I can still see the smoke from this inward fires. The firefighter have done a lot of 'backburning' to clear the path of the fire so it does not spread. Some of these "islands" are 2 miles inside the main fire so firfighters cannot get to them, but will leave them to just burn out by themselves.
Fire investigators are at last being able to visit some spots to help determine what the cause of the fire was - this investigation could take a while.

The latest that I have heard from various TV stations in the area and local radio stations.

The fire is now 55% contained.
The fire perimeter has not expanded.
Approx. 18,000 Acres of land have burned.
Highway 24 has now been opened to through traffic, some restrictions are in place as firefighters are still in that area.
We now have 183 National Guard on duty in the springs area to help with policing.
Firefighters morale is high due to the containment.
Thunderstorms are predicted after 4pm today - hooray for the rain but boo to the lightning strikes which could bring more fire spots. The wind factor will blow from the west so Colorado Springs and surrounding area are on high alert still.
Approx 30,000 have been allowed back to their homes - they have no gas or water as yet, the Red Cross is offering them meals.
Colorado utilities are working 24/7 to get the water and gas lines back in operational order, the households will have their Utility bills amended to ZERO while they were evacuated, and will not be charged for the work they are doing.

On a low point:
A total of 72 vehicles belonging to the evacuees have been broken into.
So far 24 evacuated homes have been looted.

The police office said today and are most adamant about it - That any people that are found looting these homes to expect the law to come down heavily on them and will incur a 24 year prison sentence. This will include the people they have already.


And on an even sadder note:

A C130 crashed today in South Dakota as it was flying to fight a fire. The plane had 6 people in it. Our thoughts go their families and loved ones and friends and thank them for their service.

That is all for now.

http://www.helpcoloradonow.org/

The above link was sent to me by our local TV Station for anyone that wants to help. Or go to KKTV.com for any information.

Love and hugs and hope you are all well.

Elle x

DOLLAR BILL ORIGAMI..........

Sent to me via email from a friend.

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/dollarbillorigami.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/dollarbillorigami1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/dollarbillorigami2.jpg[/IMG]

Totally Amazing..........

Well, the 4pm press conference shed some more light on things.
President Obama Visited the county yesterday and by yesterday evening he has declared that El Paso County in Colorado (which is where Rocky & I live) is now a disaster area. The area now has been given 120 National Guard to help the police in certain areas. Fema is now here and ready to help those that have lost there homes etc. He gave us the extra C130's - we now have all 8 of them together with their Hot Shot's.

At the last count still 346 houses have been lost, and that is not including those that have been fire damaged.
22 homes have been burgled - they expect more when people move back in tomorrow and report.

Bears have moved into a few areas that had been evacuated up elsewhere in the mountains, so those people cannot move back in until the bears have been told to go away - lol
.
All missing people have now been accounted for, 1 person was in New York watching the Yankees play

The cost so far for the fire has reached $8.8 million and that is NOT including the cost of the houses burned/destroyed/damaged etc!

The fire is now estimated to be 35% contained.
Estimated date of full containment is 16th July 2012.

Kudo's to the firefighters they have done a wonderful job - and for some of them to sleep on the ground at the fire site is just amazing and I just cannot think of another word so I shall make my own up "Valourific' and dedicated. They slept with 1 eye on the fire and the other eye on their comrades next to them - Now try to sleep with those conditions!

Here is a photo that a fireman took on Wednesday:

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/firefawn1-1.jpg[/IMG]

Goes to show that wildlife also gets help from our firemen with all four feet of the fawn bandaged as they got burnt by the fire.

I just woke from a nap and looked in on my fb page and saw this welcoming thread from one of our local TV stations:

KKTV 11 News
More air support:
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – A MAFFS-equipped C-130 from the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard arrives at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., June 30, to support wildland fire fighting operations in the western United States. Four MAFFS units are scheduled to arrive June 30, joining four already operating out of Peterson AFB. The four units supporting the firefighting effort are the 302nd Airlift Wing from Peterson AFB, the 146th Airlift Wing from Channel Islands, Calif., the 153rd Airlift Wing from Cheyenne, Wyo., and the 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, N.C.


We are just waiting for the next press conference at 4pm - we have gusty winds here at the moment which can play havoc with the back burning the firefighters are doing. We are fine and am glad the fire did not breach into the part of the city we live in. Though it was still scary to see and watch it be that close.

2 human body remains have been found in one burned out home so far, a handful of people are unaccounted for. Such sad news we hope to learn a bit more later. A few neighbourhoods were allowed back home last night at 9pm. The neighbourhood (4,000 people)that had the 346 homes burned to the ground are being taken for a tour of there area tomorrow in buses. They will not be allowed to inspect the burnt remains of the houses. Gas and electricity crews are working hard to connect and inspect the pipes etc and to see if any work on them need to be done.

The evacuated areas have been a target for burglaries. The cars/vehicles of the evacuees that have been staying in various hotels etc have been burglarised also, 66 were broken into and had there last belongings in them taken by these lowlifes. For what these people had already suffered and lost and had managed to pack before they had to leave their homes, they now they have nothing all the momentos have been taken - this is so very very sad.

A search is yet to be done on these homes to see if there is anybody in them that didn't get out How sad is that?
A preliminary count is that 346 homes have been destroyed here are just some of them:
[url]http://www.krdo.com/news/Aerial-views-of-affected-areas/-/417220/15339288/-/c9q728/-/index.html[/url]

Anybody caught in the evacuated areas are being arrested - home owners are not allowed in as yet. 5 people have been arrested so far for trying to rob the homes.

President Obama is going to be here tomorrow and the Governor of the State is going to ask the president to make Colorado a State of Emergency!

Hello my friends.
Sorry I didn't do an update yesterday, but the day before was kind of devastating to see and watch. We watched a lot of it happen live on TV and it was a very teary experience.
Neighbourhoods were burnt to the ground, in Cul-de-Sacs we saw rows of houses burning to the ground and the neighbours house was left alone, it was scary to say the least. I was on the verge of packing for evacuation, luckily that didn't happen.
Today it seems that the Wildfire is growing Northwards and away from the City.
The Airforce Academy is now seeing a lot of smoke and fire at the end of there acreage, some of them have been evacuated and today is new cadet day which has been diverted to another building in Colorado Springs.
Some of the Army has been deployed to man the large bulldozers to clear shrubs and brush etc from the surrounding areas (they are NOT firefighter's but are helping).
Here are some photo's that our local TV and Radio stations have posted.

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/flagandfire.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/521906_10151044666431703_1171425606_n.jpg[/IMG]

This is what was so damn devastating to see live the other day:
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/localhomesonfire.jpg[/IMG]

NOT to forget these horse leaving their burnt out home...
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/horses.jpg[/IMG]

The Flying W Ranch Burnt to the ground:
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/flyingwranchremains.jpg[/IMG]

The aftermath of some neighbourhoods:
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/burnedvehicles.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/nearflyingwranch1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/nearflyingwranch.jpg[/IMG]

And a photo that I took the other day from my balcony:
[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/011.jpg[/IMG]

It is now the time of day that the winds change direction, so we expect more flare ups - hopefully they will not be near any houses ..........

Quick update on some stuff:
18,000 acres have now burnt.
1,200 firefighters are now in place and more on the way.
32,500 evacuees
Hundreds of homes gone!

Has been said by our Mayor 'It's a fire of EPIC Proportion'

I have no good news to tell you.

It was called a 'Fire Storm'.

The fire has now spread into Colorado Springs approx 10 miles from where Rocky & I live.
Homes have now been burned to the ground.
A long time family/working ranch has been burned to the ground I do not know if any of you have been to Colorado Springs and if any of you have heard of 'The Flying 'W' Ranch' well it is no more, it has been an institution in the area since the the 1950's. You can hear some of the wranglers singing on you tube. I had been to the 'Flying W' for a meal with Rocky and his dad when friends of ours came over from the UK a few years ago. They cooked a lovely meal out of their chuck wagon and yes they were real wranglers that served you and cooked for you and sang for you. They did say on their web site that they will rebuild when all this is over.

Anyway no fatalaties or injuries to report as yet - just all these houses being burnt - makes me wanna cry.

We have over 800 firefighters fighting this fire atm and more are on the way.
We had 4 C130's but 2 of them have been deployed to Boulder in Colorado as they too have fires. The C130's flew 12 times in an hour earlier today (before the 2 went), we also have the 2 helicopters with another 3 on the way.
More and more are being asked for.
We are waiting now to see if Colorado will be classed as a State of Emergency. The feds and local council are at the moment working together.
Governor Hickenlooper has just flown in and is holding a press conference.
I have no other news at the moment. It is too heartbreaking, look in on kktv.com for more info and photo's. On TV today we actually saw homes in the way of the fire and saw them burn to the ground.

At 4pm we had 12,000 evacuees, now this number has gone up to 32,000.

Just pray for us and everybody in Colorado. The sky burns red.

Elle x

At the latest press conference this morning:

5,165 Acres have been been burned.
2,599 Homes are evacuated.
4,865 Evacuees active.

So far last night had the first structure casualty, a tent shed as the fire spread to the Eagle Lake Camp.

Luckily there have been NO people casualties and no home casualties.

600+ Firefighters. More are on their way.
3 Active C130 air tankers the fourth is ready to go when called upon.
2 Active Helicopters(Air tankers) Another 4 are on the way.

The fire has spread Northwards and grown.

We are 10 miles East of the fires, we have a fairly good view of the planes & helicopters dropping the fire retardant etc. Also we can see the flames erupt when the fire has found new fuel (new groundbrush/trees etc). The air defense is very active today. Fort Carson (the local army post) are on standby if needed.
The fire official said this morning that as he was doing his rounds visiting the various fire crews last evening that he came across some Minnesota fire fighters and told them that they are well behind the hydration and the altitude affect so told them to drink more water! lol.
The firefighters are camped out at a local school grounds and some are real closely camped out near the fire - they camp out so they have not got to waste energy by hiking 2.5 miles into the wooded areas and then hike the 2.5 miles back.

I really do not think we know what they go through to help us! Those that make light of the situation - my input to you is - Do not mock it as this could happen/affect you!

The local Care & Share are taking donations of water/gatorade/and food. Especially for the firefighters they need much much more of snacks that they can just put into their pockets and eat on the go to keep them going. Beef Jerky/Power Bars and stuff like that. They are also taking monetary donations.

The next press conference is at 4pm (mst) today.

Todays weather temperature is in the high 90's with the wind at 20-30mph, something the firefighters are also fighting. No rain in the next 7 day forecast.

The approx. date for full containment of this fire is 16th July, so we have a ways to go. At the moment they say the fire is 5% contained, but this changes as it goes on but no higher at the moment.

For those that have sent their wishes Thank You very much, both Rocky & I appreciate them so much.

Hugs
Elle
xox

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/watertankerhelicopter1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Ellefoxie/Wildfire_Colorado%20Springs/watertankerhelicopter.jpg[/IMG]

I did not take these photo's, and these are pics of one of the 2 helicopters that are dropping water and fire retardant. The C130's are doing this also.
There are 8 C130's in the entire country of the USA. 2 of them are based at Peterson Airfield in Colorado, 2 of them are based in Wyoming. Colorado now has 4 of these planes fighting the fire . They drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in 5 seconds.

The Waldo Canyon Fire Is now classed as the Number 1 fire in the USA.
The C130's were not supposed to start dropping the retardant until tomorrow, but our top brass made a phone call and got them up in the air today - Good On The Mayor