The Springer Wildfire

Fathers Day started out great!!  We enjoyed a nice breakfast with Robby, Jill and the kids and after they left at lunchtime, we headed to Co. Springs for a little shopping and to go see a movie - a rare occurrence for us!!

The highlight of the day was going to Underwater Connection and buying good snorkeling equipment!  After our Belize trip, we both decided we really enjoyed snorkeling but wanted our own gear so we wouldn't have to rent or borrow!!  We had a super nice guy who helped fit us and explain many things about the equipment so that was a bonus!!

We were just heading to the movie when my friend Joleen called - she was on her way home from Kansas and her neighbor had just called her to tell her about a fire and that her subdivision was on standby evacuation!  I immediately called another friend who informed me that yes, there was a fire in Lake George and it was spreading fast due to the wind!!

We immediately headed back up the pass and as soon as we got high enough, saw smoke that looked similar to the picture below!!

 It was an immediate flashback to the Hayman Fire which was 10 years ago!  We raced home and Glenn went to look closer at the smoke while I started packing up pictures and memory books and made phone calls to get the latest!  The wind was in our direction the first night so it was pretty scary, wondering if we would be getting the 911 reverse call in the middle of the night!

Monday and Tuesday were extremely hot days for the mountains, along with strong winds.  When we were walking on Monday morning, we talked to our neighbors who gave me a website to go on and sign up for immediate news bulletins, either by email or cell phone - PERFECT!!!  I signed up as soon as I got to work and as you can imagine, received dozens of texts during the day on the updates of the fire! 

Today is Wednesday and as of now, the fire is 23% contained - we had a cold front come in last night and the temperature was actually 40 degrees when we got up!  So our cooler weather today is surely going to help those firefighters!  As of now, the number of acres burned is holding at 1140 acres and we're all praying for more containment today!

Of course my evacuation list was already done up - I did add a couple of things and have decided to keep all the scrapbooks and memory items in boxes and bags till the end of summer!  Yes, it feels like a repeat of the Hayman Fire - I'm only glad I am NOT in the insurance business any longer!