E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Ed Andrieski / AP
Firefighters watch as flames leap hundreds of feet in the air as the High Park wildfire fire explodes on the south side of Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins, Colo., on Thursday. The wildfire started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres.
Wildfires continued to spread in New Mexico and Colorado as a new evacuation order was issued for approximately 80 homes in northern Colorado, NBC affiliate 9News.com reported.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that some of the 2,500 people forced to evacuate their central New Mexico houses by wildfires raging near the resort village of Ruidoso began returning home on Thursday with the help of National Guard troops, officials said.
Evacuees from five communities have started heading home, but residents of four other neighborhoods around Ruidoso and the Lincoln National Forest, including those who lived in 230 burned homes, have yet to be allowed.
"There are still hot spots and active fire burning," said fire information officer Jimmye Turner. "We won't let people in until those areas are safe."
The Little Bear Fire, sparked by lightning on June 4, has consumed 37,912 acres of the Lincoln National Forest.
Firefighters say the fire may continue burning into the fall, feeding on hundreds of acres of trees killed by pine beetles. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
More than 1,300 firefighters and others have be working to cope with the disaster, including 400 National Guardsmen ordered to protect property and assist evacuations and returns.
Firefighters have been able to contain 40 percent of the blaze, helped by low winds and higher humidity. However, higher winds and temperatures on Thursday were igniting previously unburned islands within containment lines, Turner said.
In southeastern New Mexico, firefighters continued to battle what is known as the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire, the largest in the state's history. The 289,478-acre fire is now 56 percent contained, officials said.
However, in neighboring Colorado, a blaze known as the High Park Fire, which has scorched 52,000 acres of timber and dried brush, is only 15-20 percent under control, despite the efforts of 1,200 firefighters, fire managers said.
The Colorado fire has destroyed more than 100 structures - including more than 30 homes - in the rugged mountain canyons 15 miles west of Fort Collins. It is blamed for one death.
Hundreds of people remain under evacuation orders, but some residents on the south side of the fire have been allowed home.
The western edge of the fire has moved into the Roosevelt National Forest, where there are fewer homes and denser concentrations of trees. The fire made a run into the stands of dead trees on Wednesday, sending a mushroom cloud of smoke some 30,000 feet into the air that was visible for hundreds of miles.
Officials have warned residents of a 1,000-home subdivision at the mouth of Poudre Canyon to "move out quickly" should flames jump the Poudre River and move into the canyon.
Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Comcast has the gall to try to charge the victims of the High Park fire in Colorado an early termination/disconnect fee!! This is not the first time Comcast has charged victims of natural disasters "fees"...make a stand and let Comcast know it is wrong to further victimize people who's lives have been left in shambles and ash
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/comcast-corporation-stop-charging-victims-of-natural-disasters-fees
I use DishNet...I have never and will never use Comcast.
Why should Comcast absorb the cost? If you ordered the service, you agreed to the terms of payment. @!$%# happens, and then you pay!
These folks have a lot more problems than Comcast!
Comcast, being a corporation, has no soul; but Girldawg is right about the other problems. You know, like not having enough firefighters because of this do nothing Congress.
My good thoughts go out to the firefighters on the line out there. From a fireman's daughter: stay safe.
Anyone trying to gouge victims of natural disasters - big corporations or little mom and pop stores - needs to be reported to the State's Attorney General's office.
Colorado is still no mans land, places still to go left untouched live it breath it..
My heart is broken for this country.
No man's land? You haven't been to Denver, eh? Yuppies have taken the place over completely.
Yep, I-70 and I-25 are pretty much rush hour heavy all day long now.
Wally, that is because most of the people back there don't know how to drive on a freeway.
Sing with me!
"Count your blessings, name them one by one!
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings (pause)... Name them one by one... (pause)...
Count your many blessings, see what God has done!"
Why don't you just STFU?
I agree' shut your pie hole unless you have something useful yo say !
WTH, Are they thinking. Charging people a early termination/disconnect "fee". As if the victims have control over what happen.
I got rid of Comcast years ago. For the price they charge it's really not worth it.
This is always something you dread living here in the southwest. I feel and pray for these folks. You never know during wildfire season if it's going to happen to you. We've had major forest fire within a few miles of our home before. It's a real sick feeling. And still no rain in sight.
I'll bet all them conservatives in New Mexico and Colorado are all in favor of government handouts now!
And I bet that unless their own personal property is involved, they could give a f@ck what is happening in NM and CO.
Conservatives? Both NM senators are ... Democrats. 2 of 3 NM congressmen are ... Democrats. The state senate has a ... Democratic majority. The state house has a ... Democratic majority. The only elected state official who is a Republican is the governor (and her lt. governor).
yeah because firefighting is a "government handout"... you're an idiot...
Remember one week ago? The Mittster decried the hiring of FIREFIGHTERS! Using the Mittster's statement, he'd get rid of the Type 1 teams and our fleet of fire-bombers. That ain't a country I want.
Finally, a story on the national nightly news that touches on the pine bark beetle and the devastation it has wrought and contributed to these fires. Missing is the fact that this beetle is breeding twice a year now due to higher temperatures. Anyone who is willing to observe things objectively can connect the dots.
i doubt anything can be done about this beetle save a new technology to eradicate it. yes they now over winter because it is warmer. unless we get global cooling for a change, it'll get worse. pray for a bunch of volcanic eruptions to cool the world for a while.
Traveled through the Black Hills last year and it was kind of shocking how many and how large an area was brown from the pine beetles.
Same here in WY, no way to deal with them that's safe, the area's just to big. Last years cold winter helped but not this past one! We're all holding our breath here, fire danger is rated very high right now.
Hey folks, the fire is Nature's way of reducing the pine beetle population. Unfortunate as it is, some people are going to lose their homes and all their belongings. I wish the citizens of the affected areas safety and good luck.
Unfortunate, but fire will not kill ALL the beetles, nor will it kill all the trees but it takes a long time for a tree to grow, not very long for the beetles to reproduce. It is a sad fact that they may overwhelm the tree reproduction.
It’s amazing how far that smoke can travel. The poor girl who made my sandwich today had a terrible cough from the smoke that is slowly creeping into surrounding neighborhoods. Good luck to all the brave firefighters out there getting work done!
Even more global warming. Put that fire out. Get help from mexico. Hire hispanics if you can't find any locals who won't leave their tv sofa. But i tell you it's also that fires are bigger. That the conditions are dryer. And climate science says that it will only get dryer & even hotter.
So what can you do. I have no idea. Use more fossil fuels say mr grover, the gop, & the rushbo. Co2 has nothing to do with climate change they will tell you. Science is bunk.
But hardly any of those will lecture overseas. They seldom give talks overseas to foreigners audiences about how science is bunk. About how co2 has nothing to do with climate change. Why don't they. Because they would fear for their lives. People overseas would throw shoes at them. And hey, the co2 we produce here affect them over there. When was the last time the rushbo gave his climate change pitch over seas. Never.
global warming is going to be argued about for a long time. it is financially dangerous to do anything about it on a significant scale. and yet if we ignore it we wont have the luxury anymore of living as we do now. catch-22 my fellows. its not a matter of if its going to get worse. its a matter of when this thing is going to scare the crap out of everyone, not just the climate scientists. when we all get on board, there'll be a lot of belt tightening to do. it will be a new world. i'm not talking just the US. china and india will have to get worried too. but europe has been doing its best and even that isnt working. nobody realizes the financial hit we'll all take if we act.
Call it what you will but the weather is not what is what I would call "normal". We were so dry here all the trees were budded out from the mild winter, we had two days where it was 28 degrees two days in a row for a couple hrs. and didn't set them back at all. If I had not seen it for myself I would not believe it possible. In the past two months we have had almost sixteen inches of rain, but since it all came down in the proverbial buckets and did little more than run off and pound crops into the ground we could actually use a good rain. Lots of replanting going on as of last week. It also seems like the wind blows constantly and flat line storms instead of one every year or two we get one every other month, have no doubt we are in for a calamity it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Well, that was uplifting, I do not know if it is too late or too early for a cocktail.
Here is one of several problems with our forest. We have been fighting forest fires for over a hundred years. Ecologist have known for over four decades that a healthy forest needs to burn. Yes, the Bark Beetle is a hassle. But we need to take a whole new approach. It's not the first bug or disease these forest have faced.
If people want to live near these forests than they need to follow the same brush and tree clearance that Los Angeles County has been following. If they don't, than they should have to pay for their homes to be protected. Than a program of "Controlled Burns", need to be conducted, once this mess burns itself out.
We spend millions on trying to put this Wildfire out. Had these areas been allowed to burn over the years, decades actually, than this wouldn't be such a mess. These so called Nature loving residents are clueless. If they really are conservationist than the practice of fighting Wildfires in vast forests would of been stopped long ago.
Now with the Bark Beetle it's even more important that we start doing controlled burns in this area and allowing Wild Fires to put themselves out. Yes it sucks for the Ranchers and Home Owners, but to think it would never burn is unrealistic.
Forests self regulate themselves when man steps out of the way. Do you really think this is the first Drought or Warming issue this Planet has faced? We need to stop thinking we have all the answers and the cause of all the problems the Earth faces. Yes, we are part of the problem, but we're even a smaller part of the solution.
The Earth will be here long after the Human Species ceases to exist and was here a long, long time before we lit the first Fire by ourselves.
This massive effort by the Government to put these fires out, is all about money and nothing to do with Nature. I never want to see a Fire Fighter get hurt, but it's foolish to have sent them out there to begin with. Let it Burn, we'll rebuild and it'll burn again. Now we have to decide if were smart enough to stay out of it's way.
It was much hotter and drier back in the 30's, and forest and prairie fires have occurred for eons. So have droughts and there is no scientific evidence that warming, if it is actually happening, has caused any of the current problems. This is simply nature at work and it wouldn't be newsworthy if people didn't decide to live in the mountains...and failed to take precautions against fires. With fewer trees the bark beetle population will be reduced and a few cold winters will reduce it even further.
There is no science when it comes to climate change/global warming. Just speculations, projections and predictions (the scarier and Dooms dayish the better) based upon biased computer models that are further based on a handful of readings and observations of temporary and local conditions.
In southeastern New Mexico, firefighters continued to battle what is known as the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire, the largest in the state's history. The 289,478-acre fire is now 56 percent contained, officials said.
This fire is actually in the Gila National Forest in Southwestern NM.
I understand that forests have undergone a process of burn and regrowth for as someone said eon's. And that the people that choose to live in or near them are taking a chance. And for the ones who have lost homes I am truly sorry. But my question is. What about the wildlife that has called these forests homes. Not all of them can outrun the flames.. Does anyone know what happens to them. Is there any data on their survival rate??
Wally, this is not newsworthy? When people lose all they have? if this fire was burning in a large city would you say it would not be newsworthy if people didn't live in the city? We choose to live where it is less stressful and quiet.
With all the money they spend on fighting fires. Would it not make sense for them to invent some kind of sprinkler system of purified water. Now I know the forest is freakin huge (only way to say it) but start it. We built railroads through mountains and people thought that was crazy! Maybe have planes fly over everyday pouring purified water in different places when there is no fire. Some action is better than just waiting.
Jared, much of Colorado is naturally a freakin' desert. We use most of the available water for crops and drinking.
We've been in the middle of a drought for the past several years. last winter's snowpack is almost gone already.
Where is this "purified water" going to come from?
You can water trees all you want, but when lightening strikes, something is going to ignite. Whether it be trees or the dead pine needles and rotting wood that litters the forest floor. Years of build up makes great fire fuel. There is no real good way to combat that right now. It's not like you can have someone out there raking the forest floor. Then there is the massive cost of maintaining such a huge purification and sprinkler system, or the cost of daily fly-overs. That would take hundreds if not more planes to cover forests all around the country. I can't see the American public agreeing to such huge spending at this time with this economy. And, why would the water need to be purified? The Forest Service does what they can with controlled burns to help with maintenance of the forests, however their efforts have been hampered by hard core environmentalists. I'm not a proponent of clear cutting, but responsible logging was once a good way to help maintain forests as well. Mother Nature takes things in to her own hands when she's ready.
Lest we forget. The 1910 forest fire that burned 3 MILLION acres. There sure weren't many cars around back then so CO2 doesn't seem to be a factor.
http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/the-great-fire-of-1910-places-the-current-2012-fire-season-in-perspective/
Other big fires in the past.
https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/the-fort-collins-2012-mega-fire/
https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-old-normal-massive-forest-fires/