We’re getting lots of contacts from family and friends this morning. We live out on the plains and are safe but happened to be heading to that area yesterday unaware that a fire had started. We smelled smoke at one point on the drive but because we were in a dust storm at the time we couldn’t see the smoke. As we got closer I knew it was a bad one because of the multiple subdivisions in that area and the horizontal smoke plume. 600 +/- homes destroyed and lives lost although too early for accurate numbers.
Tragic and sobering for all of us as to the transient nature of the things of this world.

Update: 7 Jan 22. They are now reporting 1084 homes destroyed and 149 damaged plus 2 people missing and feared deceased. Also, 37 businesses were either damaged or destroyed including a large hotel. The original suspected cause of downed power lines has been retracted and the cause is undetermined.

My prayers and concerns are for all affected by these fires, and their loved ones. Pray for rain out there!

One of our kids flew into Denver yesterday to catch up with a sibling, saw the flames lapping up, and thickish smoke. Stan, it's a bit different, not likely the time of year to hope for rain. I would guess the wind was stirring things around, and the humidty is usually low, might not have had much snow on the ground, maybe lots of dry wild grass. Hope things settle, quickly.

Yes, we have been in extreme drought for a few years and the winds in that area were 80-100 mph yesterday. That area is right at the base of the foothills and everything is tinder dry. Winds blew down trees that in turn pulled down power lines sparking the fires.

Has anyone heard from bertram?

Yes, he is okay.

Since Steve is west of there up in the mountains at Ward and the fire is moving east he and his place are safe.

Ward, Colorado is about 18 miles as the crow flies west northwest of Superior where the fire was.

Okay, I'll ask for a snowstorm heavy enough to put the fire out, and for the winds to stop. We had 2 1/2" of rain yesterday evening. Wish it had been out there.

I should be fine....home tomorrow if all goes well. Rare for me but I'm visiting my family this year and not home.

My fishing buddy's house survived but houses a block away didn't. I think he's still somewhat screwed -unless they get utilities restored soon his pipes will probably freeze this weekend. He's not complaining about that. We'll try get in with some portable space heaters. You can see the extents of the burn area at the link below. Zoom in around Superior CO.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/

With all the fires burning in Canada and the smoke that you on the east coast are dealing with the report from the investigation into this historic fire a year and a half ago was finally released yesterday.

“BOULDER, Colo. — The most destructive wildfire in Colorado history started with a dormant blaze burning on a religious group’s property and was fed by a second fire believed to have been sparked by Xcel Energy equipment, according to a report released Thursday by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office.” NBC 9News

I can't imagine losing my home to something like that. It must be horrible. All the rest of us can do is pray that people are all right. We, down here in SW Ohio are getting a smell of the Canadian fires. I was just up in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last week. The pictures I have been watching on TV of that are awful. Some of us don't know how lucky we are, I guess.

The side effect for those of us in Colorado who weren't directly affected by this fire is our homeowner's insurance rates have skyrocketed. My homeowner's insurance has gone up 100% over a two-year period, some of this is due to the increase in home values but the majority is driven by the fires & hail storms.

It flew under the radar a bit, but a few weeks ago, there were some Alberta fires blew some dirty yellow smoke, down into the plains. Up in the potholes, the water seems much better than last season, looks like lots of ducks with elbow room to spread out. Pheasant looks like they are doing well too.

We retired here to Colorado 8 years ago to be near kids/grandkids. I am currently waist deep in another major hail insurance claim and will soon have my third new roof put on in this brief stay plus three successive summers of choking, poisonous smoke from wildfires (‘19,‘20,’21). Most everyone is hurting economically to some degree but especially fixed income folks. And all of that doesn’t even take into account the incredible self inflicted cultural damage being done to the state. (By way of balance, I should say that the majority of Coloradans view what I see as damage as actually progress and improvement.)

But…we still have a home unlike so many who lost everything and in many cases can’t afford to rebuild.