Virtually all of the 400 houses lost in the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire, which put me out of my forest land home for a week, were in suburban Colorado Springs at that suburban interface zone (I think that's what it's called) with nary a tree in sight. It did burn thousands of acres of forest along the Rampart Range but that was basically uninhabited. The fire came down a different canyon and off a ridge and incinerated those homes in about a 10 hour overnight period.AKR wrote:Even those who live in regular suburbs are no longer safe -- this isn't just a 'cabin in the woods' kind of risk anymore for those living in the drier parts of the west.
Grass/range fires are not uncommon in Kona. And very severe grass and range fires have burned thousands of acres in Kansas and Texas in recent years. Severe drought is a common underlying cause.
Sad news there for your sister.
Just also wanted to note that in my case the fire got to a little more than a mile from my house before it changed direction. And when we got to go back in there were firefighters, trucks and bulldozers all going up our private road and making firebreaks. They even watered out outdoor plants. The guys swore that our houses would not be lost. I'm grateful for their devotion but I must say if the fire was going to come through I would definitely have preferred my house and contents burn than to come home to a blackened, shadeless landscape. As it was we did not even lose our viewshed, the burn scar stopped one ridge over. It was a freak.
