Black forest acres health food store8/28/2023 He sent images of it burned to the ground, showing charred remains. Like Warren, CNN iReporter Mike Schultz lost his home. “You can’t just take ‘em to a Motel 6,” she said. The animals have adjusted fairly well, she said. “Trees are still standing,” she said.įor now she and her two miniature horses are staying with a friend on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. Her home sat on five acres and she doesn’t think the land has been damaged. Warren didn’t know exactly where the friend had seen the information but she believed it to be true.įor a person who had just been told their home was gone, Warren had a cheerful attitude when talking with CNN, laughing and saying that she was just going to go back home when she could, hitch up a trailer on the property, live in that and rebuild her house. A friend called her to say that her home was on an online list of residences that had been designated as destroyed. “I had a pillowcase full of socks, and that’s basically all I have.”īy Thursday afternoon, she got bad news. “I thought I had about an hour, and it turned out to be about 20 minutes,” she said. Paula Warren, one of thousands of residents forced to flee her home northeast of Colorado Springs, spoke about how difficult it was to leave and wonder if her home was all right. Read: Animals become symbols of hope in Texas town “I stayed in the front seat of my car with all of my fowl in there, with the roosters crowing in the morning,” she told the paper. Joanne Gaishin slept outside in her car after fleeing her home with 18 chickens and three turkeys. And for good measure, one yak.Īt least eight families also have taken refuge at the Elbert County Fairgrounds in Kiowa, the Denver Post reported, which is about 35 miles southeast of Denver. Assorted dogs, cats, goats and donkeys mingled with mules and llamas. There were nearly 30 chickens, several hundred horses, a handful of cows and a couple calves, and many alpacas and miniature horses, according to the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office. One shot shows just how wide the smoke was on the horizon.Ī county fairground northeast of the Black Forest Fire looked like a Noah’s Ark with families who fled with their animals to escape the looming inferno. In northeast Colorado Springs, CNN iReporter Heather Croze took photos outside her home, capturing a billowing plume of smoke. A lot of people here just don’t know,” Jaenette Coyne said. You have that moment where you say: ‘Is that really my house?’ But we know it was. “It was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The Coynes actually saw their home burn on live TV. She also took a firebox, which contained most of the couple’s important documents. She said she grabbed a baby album and a personal computer with pictures on it. “We literally had five minutes, and we left because it was, the flames were there,” Jaenette Coyne told CNN’s AC360 Thursday night. “If it’s a draw, that’s a victory today because we haven’t had too many draws in the last couple of days,” he said.Īmong those who lost their home were husband and wife, Jaenette and Kristian Coyne. Maketa struggled to find a phrase to describe how ferocious the fire is, settling on “very dynamic.” Combined with dry brush and high temperatures, the winds have fanned devastating flames. That marked a dramatic increase from the 8,500 acres officials said had been burned by Wednesday night, he noted.Īfter he spoke, residents of about 1,000 homes in Colorado Springs were told to evacuate. The fire’s evacuation area was 93,000 acres, affecting approximately 38,000 people and 13,000 homes, and the flames were estimated to have burned through 15,700 acres, said Maketa. “The fire is very, very active within the containment area, and we don’t have a high level of confidence at all that we’ll be able to hold all of these lines around this fire,” Rose said. With the help of helicopters and air tankers, they established a loose perimeter. Some 750 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was 5% contained late Thursday. Read: Study warns of continued wildfires in western U.S. They were packing their personal belongings, trying to get out,” he said.Įarlier, county spokesman Dave Rose told CNN that the Black Forest Fire, burning northeast of the city, now appears to be the most destructive in terms of property lost in state history. “They said that they could see a glow to the west. Witnesses spoke to the two victims in the afternoon, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa told reporters. Firefighters made little headway Thursday against a raging wildfire near Colorado Springs, Colorado, which has scorched close to 16,000 acres, destroyed 360 homes and claimed at least two lives.
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