Wildfire in Colorado (US)

[tremanarch 6]

I hope they can handle this.. looks really serious though!!

omg

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/07/wildfires_in_western_us.html?camp=fb

look at those brave heli pilots!

[hellfire257 3]

That poor kitten! :O

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

It's not just in Colorado. A friend of mine in Utah has a fire 2 towns up from her, and there's fires all across the west. It's this damn heatwave.

[Nutlink 10]

I live in Denver, it's been pretty horrendous around the state because of the fires. I'm fortunate enough to be far enough away from them, and luckily nobody I know has been directly affected by the fires, but it's still sad to see my lovely state burn down like this.

[PELHAM 10]

I have often wondered what I would do in this situation, if you had a chainsaw and worked together with the neighbours, would it be possible to cut down all the nearby trees and drag them away with cars and trucks? Maybe that would cut down on radiated heat near the houses and save some? I have been close to some forest and grassland fires, the heat they put out is amazing. It's unbearably hot 50 - 100 yards away. If you drive past it burns you even through the windscreen and windows. Being trapped alive in one is unimaginable.

[Tonci87 163]

I have often wondered what I would do in this situation, if you had a chainsaw and worked together with the neighbours, would it be possible to cut down all the nearby trees and drag them away with cars and trucks? Maybe that would cut down on radiated heat near the houses and save some? I have been close to some forest and grassland fires, the heat they put out is amazing. It's unbearably hot 50 - 100 yards away. If you drive past it burns you even through the windscreen and windows. Being trapped alive in one is unimaginable.

The heta is only one problem. Burning leaves and sparks carried by the wind are much more dangerous, nothing can save you from that. The next forest can be hundrets of meters away your house can still catch fire if the wind is blowing towards it.

[PELHAM 10]

The heta is only one problem. Burning leaves and sparks carried by the wind are much more dangerous, nothing can save you from that. The next forest can be hundrets of meters away your house can still catch fire if the wind is blowing towards it.

Yes but embers can be dealt with easily if there is still a working water supply, radiant heat and direct flame contact are big trouble and more difficult to deal with if you allow the fire to get close. The trick is to reduce the amount of combustible material close to the houses so you have a safe area to work from. If you look at most of the houses in the pictures they all have pine trees in the gardens or even touching the houses which looks nice but it's lethal in a bush fire. If it were me I'd chop them down and move them away providing you get enough warning of course. Getting trapped with not enough time to do the job is not a good idea, if you can see smoke it's too late.

Edited July 4, 2012 by PELHAM

[cozza 24]

Its not advisable to stay and defend your home in the case of a fire. Its a hard decision to make, but you gotta choose to leave and take the chance and hope the house will not burn, or you can stay and protect it and possibly die. and its not an easy decision to make, I have had to leave home 3 times because of bushfire's only a few kilometers from me. I left thinking it might be the last time I would see my house. Luckily the winds changed and the fire moved away. But if it didn't, the house probably would of burnt down.

combustible material pelham is pretty much everything made of organic material. The radiant heat is just unimaginable. It turns green grass dead, and it will combust. Healthy green trees will dry up, and it will combust. Unless you live in a large area resembling mars, or have a very big supply of water and a means of getting allot of it around your house (a garden hose and sprinkler wont work. Need a fire hose or a helicopter water bomber) all that organic material will dry up and it will burn.