the fire has slowed some but we are no where near the end of this

[fizzgig]

the wind shifted in the night and we woke up to clearer skies here in fort collins, i welcomed a sky that did not look like the end of the world.

fire doubled in size last night and grew about ten percent or so more today, but they caught a couple breaks today and it's slowing down a bit. humidity is up tonight, too. well, up for us.

they did identify today the one person who's died in the fire, her family had been ranching in the area for four generations. rest easy, linda.

i did a recon drive on the west side of town tonight to see what i could. tiny little fire line on our side of the reservoir from what i'm assuming was wind-blown debris, but nothing i'm concerned about. further north i saw what appeared to be a larger patch just on the other side of the ridge, but i couldn't get a real good view of it. i'm a bit more concerned about that, but not seriously worried.

i completely trust the crews out there and since they haven't told everyone on the west and northwest edges of town to gtfo, i am going to just keep an eye and ear on things and remain positive. my husband has calmed down a bit, so that's helping me stay calm. talked to my dad a bit today about a plan for him and my sister (they live a bit outside town and the road closures are getting close), but my husband and i don't have anything solid. we're pretty far into town.

i've been listening to the fire chatter on the scanner for a couple of hours now and nothing sounds that serious. yes, it's the middle of the night, but those guys are still out there and they've been working their asses off.

i'm trying to digest this some, it's been a surreal couple of days, thanks for letting me ramble.

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Hope things keep on slowing up over there...

Y'know, I'm scared of earthquakes and floods and stuff, but bushfires totally terrify me, probably coz it's the only one of those things I've ever experienced. I reckon just keeping calm and watching things is the way to go. And kudos to the firefighters. They're incredibly brave people who do work their arses off, imo

[fizzgig]

2. i feel the same way about hurricanes and tornadoes

never experienced those and they scare the crap out of me.

we got a bit of containment overnight and the weather looks like it might remain mostly cooperative. i'm so grateful for all the emergency service workers, there's a lot of volunteers out there that we can't forget about.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I'm glad to hear the fire has slowed some, my dear fizzgig...

I saw a neighbor's garage go up in flames a long time ago, and that was scary.

I cannot even imagine how scary a real forest fire is.

Glad you're staying on top of things, sweetie...

[fizzgig]

6. wild and forest fires are so scary

they can grow and move at incredible speeds and with terrifying destructiveness.

it was calming to listen to the scanner last night, i'm going to turn it back on after i watch the news.

[Pauline89]

4. Spam deleted by NRaleighLiberal (MIR Team)

[turtlerescue1]

5. Nothing more terrifying that a fire.

Grew up with those foothills at the base of the Sierra-Nevadas. Green and then GOLDEN dry.

Other natural disasters and in the case of fires, (too often=Unnatural) have a course, a time frame, but not a fire.

Stay safe, and whether you approve of it I dunno, but hope there is Divine Intervention.

Most I ever got to do on a fireline was run around with iced tea, water, etc for the crews. They let me have a shovel once, beat the snot out of a bush, wind came up and WHAM, like it never happened.

THESE are heroes out there, all of them. You too, I always fell apart. Unsung heroes each of them.

[fizzgig]

7. that is what is most frightening about fire

if it isn't ready to be done, it won't be. and you're right, all the work you've done can be wiped out in the blink of an eye.

i have been offering my own version of prayer to the universe because that positive energy is not wasted.