Two huge wildfires are about to join in Colorado and cause massive evacuations
The two biggest fires in the state have occurred in a week. Now what is urgent is that they do not connect
DENVER, Colorado – Local Colorado authorities warned this Friday of the risk that the largest wildfire in the state’s history will join in the coming days with the fastest-growing fire ever seen in a region that would be doomed with massive evacuations and suffer ” the worst of the worse”.
Last August, the so-called Cameron Peak Fire , which was only partially controlled, broke out naturally , burning more than 86,000 hectares and destroying some 300 buildings west of the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland.
And this week, apparently caused by human intervention, the East Troublesome Fire started near the towns of Granby and Grand Lake, west of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).
In just three days, the fire devastated nearly 70,000 acres, consuming “many and numerous structures,” said Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin .
As of this morning, the north edge of the East Troublesome fire was at the height of Stone’s Peak Mountain, only 15 miles (about 30 kilometers) away from the Cameron Peak fire , a distance that both fire previously covered in less than one day.
That is why, according to Schroetlin, the possibility of a megafire threatening major northern Colorado cities, including the popular resort of Estes Park, is very high, although the arrival of a cold front this Sunday is expected to delay or even delay. prevent the melting of fires.
Meanwhile, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), strong winds will blow in the affected areas from today until Sunday, making extinction tasks more difficult.
“We don’t have all the resources we need. We are definitely asking for more resources. And we hope that more people will come to help us fight the fire, “said Chris Joyner , spokesman for the team of about 300 firefighters fighting the flames of the East Troublesome fire, at a press conference .
For his part, Sheriff Schroetlin said that “we always prepare for the worst, but this is the worst of the worst,” and stressed that his county and the adjacent Larimer County, already affected by the Cameron Peak fire, are coordinating “Mass evacuations”.
Y Noel Livingston, comandante de bomberos del incendio East Troublesome, dijo que la de este viernes será un día complicado dado que el “viento, sol y poca humedad” no ayudan mucho, y que esperan nuevos refuerzos para poder “proteger estructuras”.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis will tour the burned areas this morning and, after consulting with experts, it is anticipated that he will activate the National Guard to prevent the fires from connecting.
At the same time, Polis will order the indefinite closure of numerous areas in the mountains controlled by the state to prevent that, due to human causes, new fires arise there.
The size and intensity of the East Troublesome fire caused a cloud of smoke and ash to reach Denver, the state capital, on Thursday that led the authorities to recommend that the population not go out on the streets.
