I’ve heard from a lot of friends asking whether we’ve been affected by the fires in northern Colorado, so I thought I’d write a brief update.
There are multiple fires in Colorado right now, but three of them affect us: Cameron Peak, Cal-Wood, and Left Hand Canyon.
The Cameron Peak fire is not particularly close to Boulder. It’s due west of Fort Collins, which is an hour drive. However, it’s a monster — the biggest fire in Colorado history. It’s been burning for about two months and still only 50-60% contained last I heard. The smoke from this fire has often blanketed Boulder as well as much of northern Colorado. On Friday, I took this photo out of my living room window in the middle of the afternoon. The smoke from Cameron Peak was the worst it has ever been. The second photo was taken from the same window today at about the same time. See? I’m supposed to be able to see the foothills from my window. And, no, there was no filter used in that smoke photo. The sky was that color; in fact, it looked worse in real life.
The good news for us is that the Cameron Peak fire is an hour away. Unfortunately, on Saturday a new wildfire started much closer to Boulder. Around 12:30 or 1:00 I saw a few puffs of fresh black smoke out my window as I looked north. I could tell it had to be a new fire — it was too close to be from Cameron Peak.
Within a very short period of time, it looked like this:
This was the Cal-Wood fire, which exploded down the foothills — it burned almost 9000 acres and 25-30 homes in a matter of a few hours. Tanker planes and helicopters flew back and forth over our house all Saturday afternoon and evening. After it grew dark, we could see flames in the distance from our house and from various roads and vantage points in North Boulder.
Just now, another tanker plane flew overhead. Those guys are amazing — they disappear into the smoke and swirling winds. Over and over. Having this fire blow up so close to Boulder city limits was unnerving. I was so touched at how the community pulled together to help: offering to rescue livestock, provide pasturage, trailer horses, and shelter strangers.
Last but not least, on Sunday, another smaller fire started up in Left Hand canyon. Firefighters threw everything they had at it right away and it has stayed under 300 acres. Thank goodness for lighter winds and a bit of drizzle in this terrible drought we’ve been in.
Cal-Wood is now about 15% contained. It’s approximately 4 or 5 miles north of us, but they’ve controlled the southern edge so we feel secure.
Bottom line: We are safe. We are humbled and grateful. We are on guard. And some of us are knitting.
I’ve been working for the last couple of days on Beyul designed by Justyna Lorkowska. I’m not too far along but I’m enjoying knitting with it. The pattern is extremely clear and well thought out. I bought the yarn at my one and only Rhinebeck — Susan and I were planning to go again this year but we all know how that turned out. Bittersweet to pick it up the weekend Rhinebeck was supposed to take place. The yarn is Miss Babs Yowza in the color Tulipa.
The back as I work down to the bottom of the armhole.
Wow, those fires are waaay to close for comfort. We’ve had our fair share in Utah this season but none quite that close or severe. Having said that Provo Canyon, our usual route to the south Salt Lake valley, was closed for a couple of days and we watched the smoke funneling up to Heber, worrying about the poor folks in Orem at the other end of the canyon.
Beyul is a lovely design. Where do you and Susan find all these neat designs? How fitting that it should be started on Rhinebeck weekend 🙁
Comment by Pru aka Tigermum — October 19, 2020 @ 8:02 pm
What a beautiful color. I have a few variegated skeins of Yowza (from years ago) but not a semi-solid like this. So glad I read your blog. I learn and discover so much. I had been hankering for an interesting and unusual sweater construction for awhile but not too advanced for my limited skills. I can do short rows (just came to terms with them last week) so I think Beyul will be my next sweater pattern purchase. Thank you for the update and pictures of the fire. I think it is important for people to get first hand witness to events such as this. Makes it more ‘real’ than detached media accounts which are occasionally even inaccurate. Wishing you well and hope you stay safe.
Comment by Chloe — October 20, 2020 @ 5:48 am
So glad you’re okay. Hope the fires are fully contained soon &/or stay far away to not be a threat.
That tulip color is gorgeous on my monitor. I’d be all over that if I’d seen it in person, too. Looking forward to the completed sweater.
Comment by Samina — October 20, 2020 @ 9:19 am
So glad you’re OK, but breathing all that stuff has to be bad for you, keep a healthy eye on how well you are breathing. This stuff may make you more vulnerable to Covid. I love that color of yarn, and the pattern looks like fun too.
Comment by Pippa Jones — October 22, 2020 @ 11:42 am
Sally, if you can, please call or email me. Thanks!
Comment by Laura Head — August 17, 2021 @ 12:58 pm