Eating an Elephant

The age old question is, "How do you eat an elephant?"

One bite at a time!

The firefighters are tackling the Black Forest Fire in the same manner. One hot spot at a time. The news has been very uplifting. As of last evening the fire was at 55% containment. Many folks were allowed to return home.... but not our evacuees. The current line between their properties and the stand-by evacuation area is about 2000 feet.

The red area is the mandatory evacuation zone. Our friends live at the point of the arrow. 

Oh. 

So. 

Close!

We are taking bets on when the zone will move. Since they will not have another press briefing until noon, unless they have big news to share, you can bet we will all be standing by the computer looking at the live streaming briefing on one of the news channels. 

This fire, although not the largest, has been the most devastating of any Colorado fires. It has destroyed 483 homes and 17 others have partial damage. The number may change. The problem is that the firemen have difficulty determining just what is a home. In some areas mailboxes are gone and there are no identifying numbers remaining. Some of the homes in the area were built so long ago, they didn't even have foundations. 

I am in awe of the work the firemen have put in. They really made every effort to protect homes. 

Firemen holding the line.

If you look closely, you can see that

most of the homes in this neighborhood were saved.

This was the heart of Black Forest, and one of the hardest hit areas.

The white rectangle on the upper right is the elementary school, which was saved. 

Many other community buildings, including the Community Center were saved.

A picture of the building prior to the fire.

The Community Center is an historic building built in the early 1900's.

People were so relieved to learn that it was still standing.

Hooray for the firefighters who put their lives on the line over the past few days.