Posted by Bob - the Alien on June 09, 2002 at 15:00:32:
As I spend time in downtown Denver, doing my work, it is almost easy to forget the area of natural beauty in which Denver sits. Sure, you see the mountains off to the west, but you mostly see buildings, streets, cars, buses, people. The homeless people ask for money from the businessmen, and everyone lives their lives.
Not today, though -- The forest fires in Colorado are something else this year. I was taking the trash from our office out to the dumpsters in the alley, and the entire city smells of a campfire. The air looks wrong., the clouds are dark, but its not rain. It is smoke from the fires.
Ash is actually falling out of the sky like rain.
And the fires are not even right next to Denver. They are an hour south of here. But the winds are so high and the fires so large, that it feels like Denver is in the middle of everything.
Thousands of people have been forced from their homes.
Hundreds have lost their homes.
The firefighters are trying to stop it from getting any worse.
I'm just a little in awe of nature at this point in time.