Well, you all must have heard about what is going on in Colorado... the whole state has caught fire. The worst fire in Colorado history has been lit for the past 8 days and it is called the Waldo Canyon Fire. My family has been evacuated from our wonderful mountain home since Sunday morning (we evacuated Saturday but then went back for one last evening before the mandatory evacuation came into effect) and I think it may be time to look back at the worst.
These pictures are from our own camera unless otherwise listed:
Taken Saturday evening by the north entrance of the Air Force Academy. My flight from Missouri came in and my parents were already packed and out of the house for the day. At this point, we were only on voluntary evacuation. We returned home this night.
The morning of our mandatory evacuation. Photos taken from the back porch of our house.
Last picture of the house before leaving. Look at all of the beautiful flowers.
Starting the drive down the mountain. We have 4 cars at my house so everyone had to drive one filled with belongings down. We had to leave one car behind because there weren't enough drivers.
Driving down what is called "Ute Pass" or Highway 24. Right into the smoke. They closed the highway that evening because it was so close.
The sunrise was blocked by the smoke. A very heartbreaking and scary drive.
45+ minutes away from the fire. Taken at around 12pm Sunday at Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Colorado Springs.
Driving to our evacuee home.
Taken Sunday or Monday evening at St. Patrick's
My sister Katy was coming in from California so this was on the way to Denver to pick her up.
Pikes Peak is to the left. This video was taken as I was coming up on the Air Force Academy exits so you can see how much it is spreading.
Above are the pictures taken on Tuesday (early and late evening). At this time 346 houses were burning. You can see the houses in flames in the last two pictures. The neighborhood most deeply effected is called Mountain Shadows. My dad asked me today if I remember looking at a house up in that neighborhood when we first moved here in 1998. Beautiful houses destroyed.
This is a 16+ min, 5 day time lapse video from June 23rd- June 28. This was taken by a Colorado Springs resident named Steve Moraco. It will bring you to tears. Seeing those flames come up over the mountain and into that neighborhood was surreal. Hopefully with this video view, you can experience a little bit of the horror.
As we continue to pray for the containment and eventual clearing of this fire, let us not forget the wonderful outpouring of love, kindness, and never-ending support from everyone directly and not directly effected. For the fire fighters who have given all of their time, effort, and energy to extinguish this fire. For the leaders who have responsibility for the safety of thousands of residents and hundreds of fighters, overall containment plans, and the investigation to the source of the fire. For the people who have lost their homes and valuable items from the fire or from people who have broken into their cars and homes after being evacuated.
7 so that the [a] proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which [b]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1 Peter 1:7
No comments:
Post a Comment