Nash Ranch Fire....

Lightning has been rampant lately, typical of summer in this part of the country. What isn't so typical is that no rain is accompanying this lightning. Sadly, fires are rampant this year, too.

Maybe it isn't such a sad thing from the aspect that wildfires are Mother Nature's way of cleaning up and replenishing the land. But, no, it's still sad. One only has to look at what Northern California is dealing with to understand that.

A dry thunderstorm moved over last night and sparked more than a dozen small grass fires in the Eastern part of my county and the one North. They were extinguished overnight. Another dry thunderstorm moved over the mountain areas this afternoon. There is now a wildfire of approximately 400 acres (at this moment...it was only 40-50 acres 6 hours ago) burning about 15 miles West of Cripple Creek.

I thought I'd have a little giggle at myself and look for smoke earlier this evening. What I saw really shocked me. I can't believe that I am this far away and the smoke plume is so visible! Large, extremely noticeable, and menacing. I grabbed the camera because you all know how big a dork I am and had to share. To give an idea, Pikes Peak is just out of view to the right of the photos.




I have walked out to see if I can spot a glow now that's it's beyond dark, but that is not there. I think it's a good thing because that would mean this fire is a massive one. As it stands there are 125 people evacuated with a fair number more on alert tonight. Nearly all of the state's resources, including two C-130 tankers from Peterson AFB (Colorado Springs) are in California, so the firefighters are stretched thin. They've already stated it's going to take about a week to even get control of this thing. Wow. But it did make for an incredible sunset (which I did not get pictures of) since the fire is due West and right where the sun set over the mountains. Red at night, sailor's delight.....