Colorado is turning into a crispy critter from the Front Range (Colorado Springs, Denver, Ft. Collins, etc.) to the Western Slope where I now reside. We had a big fire just 16 miles from here with evacuations and much loss of property - about 9,000 acres burned, I think.
I am stunned at the reports and pix from my old hometown(s) of Manitou Springs/Colorado Springs. Almost everyone I know from the old days has been impacted in some way. The entire town of Manitou was under evacuation orders until yesterday and now they're evacuating much of the US Air Force Academy situated northwest of Colorado Springs.
And the fire season is only beginning here in the West. June isn't even over yet and we still have July, August, and September to go. We are all praying for rain, but the forecast is for continued record breaking temps. Cortez hit 100 degrees yesterday when the norm for that date is 90.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/blaz...fire-side.html