I've never been this close to a wildfire ...

When I moved back to Colorado last week, I was excited because -- aside from the new job -- this was the exact view from new home's balcony (minus the HDR effect):



Back in the Rocky Mountains and I love it. However, there comes a negative with all of this. Since being here, there have been three or four wildfires "near" town (one was a smaller fire 40 miles away) in the mountains, but today it's blazing around the lake just on the other side of the foothill behind my house. Turn a little bit to the right from that first picture, and here is the incredible view from my balcony today:



Also streaming some video on our site from my house (call it a plug, whatever, it's scary as all hell): http://www.coloradoan.com/interactive/article/20120609/UPDATES01/120609001/Live-stream-High-Park-Fire-from-west-Fort-Collins

Just asking for prayers. Not necessarily for me, I don't think it will reach my place with the current winds, but for all of those in its path. A lot of homes in that area were evacuated.

 

I had this when I was working at the ranch in Wyoming. It's scary.

Are you ready to evacuate?

 

If it comes to it, yes. God, please don't let that be the case.

 

Best of luck tonight man...I'm from a wildfire area myself (the Upper Peninsula of Michigan)....and it sucks to have to worry about that crap.

 

Ugh. I was on an overnight business trip to Orlando years ago when there were wildfires all around. Our flight in got delayed because the smoke affected visibility. I was out to dinner with a big group of people and asked one of the locals how far away the fire was. I expected him to say it was at least 15 miles away, but instead, he said "oh, about a mile from here." Yikes. I got almost no sleep that night because I kept expecting the hotel to be evacuated.

Good luck, Matt.

 

Thanks, guys. Sadly, no containment yet and it's up to 3,000 acres.

The silver lining? I get to test out CS5's Photomerge utility, blending pictures to make a panoramic:

 

How many pics is that taken from?

 

Five.

 

That's Fort Collins isn't it? Recognize the football stadium and the big A on the side of the hill from when I visited there.

What is the A for anyway? Aggies? Isn't that Colorado State's old nickname?

Anyway, I hope everything turns out OK. Love Colorado and Fort Collins in particular.

 

Yeesh, good luck. Living in the high desert of southern Idaho, wildfires are a scary part of life. I've gotten a bit too close for comfort at least once while covering a fire. As in less than 50 yards. Yes, I'm a moron.

 

Pay close attention to respiratory issues and infections.

 

Which cities are getting hit the hardest?