Colorado fire rages on with smoke entering Wyoming
Smoke from the incredible wildfire in Colorado has blown over to smudge the skies of Wyoming above Cheyenne on Wednesday.
Overnight winds from the southwest blew smoke into Wyoming, carrying the odor and soot 50 miles north of the fire.
This is an example of the battle facing the fire fighters. Here in 2008, wild land ground crews battle a giant blaze.Photo Michael Rieger/FEMA
FOX reports on the trials and struggles of the residents.
“You move out east, you got the tornadoes. You live in the mountains, you got the fires,” said Denise Haines, whose family loaded up 142 alpacas and llamas from their mountain farm and took them to the Larimer County Fairgrounds.
The fire has consumed 73 square miles west of Fort Collins, destroying over 100 structures and hundreds of people have been evacuated, the report says.
“We’re gaining,” said Bill Hahnenberg, the U.S. Forest Service’s commander for the team battling the High Park wildfire, which has burned 46,600 acres in northern Colorado. The fire, which has claimed at least one life, is estimated to be 10% contained.
“This fire’s behavior is starting to diminish, at least in some places, where we can have trained individuals to go in and determine which structures are lost,” Hahnenberg said during his Wednesday morning media briefing.
The local firefighters, some of whom have lost their own homes, are tired, Hahnenberg said. “We’re doing our best and have enough resources on board to rotate in and relieve them.”
They’ve had “some success, some failure” in containing the advance of flames eastward and southward, toward residential areas, he said
