Thousands of people have evacuated the neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs after the Waldo Canyon fire spread its waves of thick flames inside Late Tuesday afternoon. In its initial stages, 11000 people were evacuated from the area, whereas now 32,000 additional people have been evacuated. The fire has consumed more than 6200 acres.
Ash rained down as I-25 was jammed with evacuees and firefighting equipment. Witnesses flooded the social networking websites, describing the horrific scene as an “apocalypse”. Many internet users uploaded the pictures and live videos of the flames that were erupting. An unknown number of houses have been consumed by the fire spread so far. Officials have refrained from making any early estimate, but viewers who were witnessed their relatives fighting on the front lines say that at least 100 homes have been destroyed.
The evacuation area is a ghost town, police say.
“Most of our people have been swept up in the evacuation process,” an officer at the department’s Gold Hill Division said. “People have been pretty cooperative. If we can’t save the houses, at least we can save the people.”
Hundreds of people gathered helplessly with the authorities and saw their houses consumed by the fire the authorities have refrained people from entering the restricted zone. The authorities are glad that the affected people are cooperating with them.
Record heat and high speed winds provided impetus to the fire fumes to spread over the area. The low humidity is making it difficult for the fire fighters to control the fire. . “Monday was a tough day… tougher than Sunday,” fire information officer Greg Heule. “Ninety degrees, 25 to 30 mph gusts. No cloud covers at all.”
