Fires destroy more than 600 homes near Boulder Colorado

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
Two fast-moving wildfires driven by strong winds erupted in northern Colorado on Thursday afternoon, destroying close to 600 homes and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee.

At least one first responder and six others were injured, though Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle acknowledged there could be more injuries and deaths could be possible due to the intensity of fires that quickly swept across the region as winds gusted up to 105 mph (169 km/h).



“This is the kind of fire we can’t fight head on,” Pelle said. “We actually had deputy sheriffs and firefighters in areas that had to pull out because they just got overrun.”

The fires, burning to the north and south of the city of Boulder, were fanned by gusts that whipped flames and smoke into a frenzy. Officials said during a Thursday evening news conference that the fires had already blackened 1,600 acres.

The Colorado governor Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency, freeing up disaster emergency funds and providing other resources to aid in the response

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/30/colorado-wildfires-evacuations-latest
 

Alligatorob said:
Wow, its late in the season for fires like these. I don't see any snow on the ground in the pictures, must still be dry there.

Hard to tell from the report exactly where these houses are, as more people build in the mountains the risk of fire like this destroying homes goes up.
Click to expand...
it said.. in Superior and Louisville areas!”
 
Oregon had serious fires about 2 years ago. I had a bag packed and by the door. None of us what to go through that again, and it made me take global warming seriously.

In the valley, we don't usually have snow but this year we got at least 8 inches, that is a lot for us and it has stayed. Our drought condition has finally decreased, but we still have drought conditions, just not as bad. I didn't think this would ever happen because normally we get a lot of rain and we did have rain forest. I don't know for how long we will continue to have rain forest considering the widespread drought.
 
I heard on the news that 30,000 people have been displaced, many having their homes and businesses burned to the ground. Thankfully, they announced there were no fatalities and I haven't heard of any animals being killed in this severe fire. I'm grateful that I don't live near the fire, but these past years Colorado has been in a serious drought and high winds can spread a fire so quickly. It's devastating for all affected, my heart goes out to them. Hell of a way to start a new year. :( Snow is supposed to be coming later today and that will help a bit, but the destruction and broken hearts remain. Fires are no joke, very frightening to say the least.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I heard on the news that 30,000 people have been displaced, many having their homes and businesses burned to the ground. Thankfully, they announced there were no fatalities and I haven't heard of any animals being killed in this severe fire. I'm grateful that I don't live near the fire, but these past years Colorado has been in a serious drought and high winds can spread a fire so quickly. It's devastating for all affected, my heart goes out to them. Hell of a way to start a new year. :( Snow is supposed to be coming later today and that will help a bit, but the destruction and broken hearts remain. Fires are no joke, very frightening to say the least.
Click to expand...
OMG...30,000 people displaced.. ?... wherever are they going to find shelter .. homes all gone, relatives and friends killed.. people who have not enough money to start from scratch again.. the horror of it all... 😧..thank the lord you're not near it SB... but ooh those poor people..
 
hollydolly said:
OMG...30,000 people displaced.. ?... wherever are they going to find shelter .. homes all gone, relatives and friends killed.. people who have not enough money to start from scratch again.. the horror of it all... 😧..thank the lord you're not near it SB... but ooh those poor people..
Click to expand...
I haven't heard that anyone was killed, so I imagine some are in shelters, with friends and neighbors, in hotels, etc. It is a devastating fire, I'm lucky to have never experienced any disasters that affected my home in my lifetime. Some in Colorado, other states and other countries can't say the same unfortunately. :(
 
SeaBreeze said:
I haven't heard that anyone was killed, so I imagine some are in shelters, with friends and neighbors, in hotels, etc. It is a devastating fire, I'm lucky to have never experienced any disasters that affected my home in my lifetime. Some in Colorado, other states and other countries can't say the same unfortunately. :(
Click to expand...
it's a regualr thing in Southern Spain... especially in the mountains areas...
 
The "Front Range" of the Rockies in Colorado has always had a risk of high winds and wildfires, especially during periods of drought. I grew up in that area, and saw similar incidents back in the 1950's. Over the past few decades, more and more people have moved into those areas, as the Denver area population has exploded. The scenery is Beautiful....but, the risks are high.
 
These fires hit pretty close to home. They're just 20 miles north of where I live. They were in fairly affluent neighborhoods, so the people there more than likely have insurance, but still. They're now homeless and many will no doubt be stuck living in hotels or with friends or families until they can rebuild. This area has a severe housing shortage and this will only make it worse.
 
Irwin said:
These fires hit pretty close to home. They're just 20 miles north of where I live. They were in fairly affluent neighborhoods, so the people there more than likely have insurance, but still. They're now homeless and many will no doubt be stuck living in hotels or with friends or families until they can rebuild. This area has a severe housing shortage and this will only make it worse.
Click to expand...
Yes, The Denver area is a lot different than it was when I lived there. I have relatives all over that area, and I got a note from one of the cousins this morning saying that none of them were affected....other than a couple of them living North of Denver who said they have a lot of smoke. That area has lots of brush and dry vegetation, this time of year, and it doesn't take much to start a wildfire.

The housing prices in Denver have gone ballistic in recent years as so many people have moved to that area. The neighborhood I grew up in, near 38th and Federal, had house prices in the $20K to $30K range, back in the 1950's,,,,and now those same houses sell for $500K, or more. I sometimes view that area on Google Maps, and that old neighborhood is still in great shape.
 
Such a terrible time of year for this to happen. Cold weather now and trying to find accommodations.
 
hollydolly said:
it said.. in Superior and Louisville areas!”
Click to expand...
Thanks, I don't know the Boulder area well but it looks like these communities are not in the mountains so much. Not places I would think would be such a high fire risk, not at the end of December. However, if it's dry and windy the fire risk is always there. The cold only helps a bit. Our situation in Utah is similar to Colorado.
 
Alligatorob said:
Thanks, I don't know the Boulder area well but it looks like these communities are not in the mountains so much. Not places I would think would be such a high fire risk, not at the end of December. However, if it's dry and windy the fire risk is always there. The cold only helps a bit. Our situation in Utah is similar to Colorado.
Click to expand...
I can only go by the beautiful scenes what I've seen on Tv but isn't Utah more Rocky than Colorado...and with less forestry
 
Alligatorob said:
I hope not many.

In most places fire insurance is still reasonable, however as more of this kind of thing happens that's changing. Anyone with a mortgage should be insured.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there were several homeowners in that huge Camp Fire in Calif. that happened near us who were in fact insured and one of the ins. companies filed bankruptcy within a few hours after the fire. So those people were out of luck. I had 6 family members who lost their homes and moved in with us but luckily their insurance company paid up and did it promptly and courteously. A friend wasn't as lucky: her home suffered smoke damage and her home insurer was one of the biggest companies here in the U.S and gave her nothing but trouble; it was a nightmare, she said.
 
One newscast said the high winds knocked down some power lines and that is likely the cause of the fire. We always have ample time to evacuate a hurricane but yesterday some residents in Colorado had just minutes to escape.
 
Climate change is here and these events are going to happen more frequently. Not only is it destroying peoples lives, animals are also displaced, or worse they die. In turn this affects the food chain. Like this terrible wildfire in Colorado, another wildfire completely wiped out the town of Lytton BC during the summer, there is nothing left. A few weeks ago many homes in the town of Abbotsford BC were destroyed by an atmospheric river and are still under a state of emergency in some places. When these events occur close to us, in the same province or state, we give more thought to it because then we think, if it happens here it could happen to me. Reading about an event in another country or some distance away does not have the same impact. We are destroying this planet but I have hope.
 
officerripley said:
several homeowners in that huge Camp Fire in Calif. that happened near us who were in fact insured and one of the ins. companies filed bankruptcy within a few hours after the fire
Click to expand...
Yep, that is limitation of insurance, companies can only absorb so many claims. Big fires or other disasters can result in claims that exceed the companies ability to pay. That is the reason we have no real private flood insurance, only through the government and its a mess. After the 2004 hurricane season a number of Florida insurers went under due to wind damage claims. For about 10 years the only wind insurance I could get was from the State of Florida and it was expensive. Things are a bit better now, but hurricane deductibles are quite high.

If losses due to fires continue to grow insurance will become unavailable or prohibitively expensive. I think it already is quite expensive in parts of California.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top