2 confirmed dead in Colorado wildfire; 379 homes destroyed

[Omaha Steve]

Source: The Denver Post-Mercury News

By Ryan Parker, Jordan Steffen and Zahira Torres

BLACK FOREST -- On a day when firefighters could finally match the might of the devastating Black Forest fire, they also made the grimmest discovery yet in its ashes.

A somber El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said at a news conference late Thursday afternoon that firefighters found the bodies of two people in the fire's rubble. The bodies were discovered in what was the garage of a home that the blaze leveled. They were next to a car with its doors open. The car's trunk was packed full of belongings.

Although Maketa did not say who authorities believe the victims are, he said investigators have spoken to someone who talked to the victims by phone at 5 p.m. Tuesday, just hours after the fire started.

In the background of the phone call, the person could hear popping and crackling sounds.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_23460020/2-confirmed-dead-colorado-wildfire-379-homes-destroyed

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Trees smolder in the midst of the Black Forest Fire on June 13, 2013. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

[byeya]

1. Many people find it hard to believe that a structure can catch on fire without being touched

by the flames. Just the radient heat of a very hot forest fire will ignite a wooden structure hundreds of yards away.

This is a terrible tragedy.

[Change has come]

3. 473 homes have burned.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23459830/black-forest-fire-claims-2-victims-379-homes

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. enormous impact of that fire...

the total evacuation zone for the fire covered 24 square miles in the region northeast of Colorado Springs.
Maketa said 38,000 people were out of their homes.

How do you take care of 38,000 displaced people?
and how do THEY rebuild their lives?

Multiply that by all the people who lost homes due to the many tornadoes, floods, fires, tropical storms that have hit
just this year..

in an economy that is swirling the toilet bowl.
How the hell can people cope..........

[alp227]

5. Colorado Springs Gazette: Rain contributes to a day of victories

The Black Forest fire, labeled the most destructive blaze in Colorado in terms of structures destroyed, took a step backward Friday.

"If you look at it as a fight, we got our tails kicked the first couple of days," El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said. "Yesterday (Thursday) we saw it as a draw. I think today we delivered some blows."

It was a day of victories. The wind relented. The burn area was pelted with rain, containment was increased from 5 percent Thursday to 30 percent Friday and people went home.

Saturday promises similar weather, according to the National Weather Service. It will be cooler and damper, said Randy Gray, meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Pueblo.

full: http://gazette.com/rain-contributes-to-a-day-of-victories/article/1502342