Traveling in the western United States and living there, as we did a long while back, we’ve been exposed to the western wildfires and their impacts, but never to any significant degree. For us, the closest we’ve been to a fire out there was when there was a fire that we could see from our house on a mountain on the edge of town.
Last year, we were in the area where the Waldo Canyon fire is burning, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. This image is from the Pikes Peak toll road, near the bottom.
Using an online map of the fire, I’ve modified the image, below, to show the approximate location of the fire as seen from this vantage point.
For several years, I belonged to a local volunteer fire department. I’ve fought several wildfires in this area.
Right now, our fire danger is about as bad as it gets. I’m getting our camper ready – fueling it and securing stuff inside – just in case we might need to relocate.
It’s not likely that we would have fires on the magnitude of the Waldo Canyon fire. We don’t normally get the wind like they do out west.
But, then again, this is not a normal weather year for us.
