whoa, fire.
The view from my apartment when I happened to glance outside this morning:
The reason the sun is blotted out of the sky:
So yeah. There is a huge, raging, destructive wildfire that's threatening hundreds of homes within Boulder County (where I live), that began in a place called Fourmile Canyon around 10:00 am. Several towns/subdivisions on the outskirts of Boulder have been evacuated. Thankfully, there are no reported injuries or deaths so far, and the firefighters are doing a fantastic job evacuating people and trying to keep the fire under control. As of now, there is no threat to the area where I live; we're actually one of the places with evacuation shelters. The most we can see of it is thick, dark smoke (which now has an orangey haze to it). The smoke has shifted throughout the day, so sometimes it looks a lot better, and then all of a sudden it looks kind of like the apocalypse. It was raining ash for awhile, and the air has a distinct smokey flavor, so I've stayed inside all day.
Right now, the sky is just kind of orange. It looks pretty, almost, except that I know hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and so many lives are still in danger. I'm keeping the firefighters/emergency rescue teams, and all those who lost homes or are still evacuating, in my thoughts. I've seen the damage small wildfires can do. Right now, they're saying it will be days, minimum, to get this one under control.
What a way to end Labor Day weekend. :\