Hellfire in Colorado, USA – Flames engulf homes, hotels and businesses – Ash 6,480 acres

Big fire has erupted in Colorado of the US, with hundreds of homes set on fire. The fire is fueled by strong winds after a historical drought in the area.

“We know that about 370 homes in the Sagamor area have been destroyed. “It is possible that 210 houses were destroyed in the old town of Superior,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelly told a news conference.

The city of Boulder, which has over 100,000 inhabitants, is located about fifty miles from Denver, the capital of the state of Colorado.

Colorado, in the American West, is experiencing a historical drought, which has greatly facilitated the spread of fire. At least 6,480 acres of vegetation were reduced to ashes in Boulder County. The flames engulfed hotels and shopping malls.

The gusts of wind with speed greater than 160 kilometers per hour in places they give impetus to the flames and unimaginably complicate the work of firefighters.

“I would like to stress that given the scale and intensity of this fire, as well as the fact that it is located in a very densely populated area, we would not be surprised if we had injuries or deaths,” warned Sheriff Pelli.

So far there is information only for six injured.

Thousands of residents were ordered to leave their homes immediately yesterday. The order concerned in particular Louisville, a city of 20,000 inhabitants.

“If you are in the area, leave immediately,” Boulder County emergency services warned residents.

“Strong winds are spreading the flames quickly and all the planes are stuck on the ground,” Jared Polis, the governor of this mountainous US state where the Rockies meet the Great Plains, tweeted. He declared a state of emergency.

“Leave Louisville because otherwise your life will be in danger,” the US Meteorological Agency insisted, referring to winds of gusts of up to 170 kilometers per hour.

“All that was left was ashes”

Another that concerned the evacuation order, the Superior of 13,000 inhabitants, was covered yesterday by a cloud of black smoke, as captured in photo snapshots posted on social networking sites.

THE Patrick Kilbright, 72 years old, was at work, on a railing, when he was ordered to leave immediately, according to the Denver Post.

He hurried to his house in Superior to collect some things, but could not save anything other than his car and some clothes. His cat and dog were lost, they died because of the fire. “All that was left was ashes,” he said, referring to the house where he had lived for three decades.

“It’s a strange feeling to go from one situation where you have all the possible comforts to another where you have absolutely nothing,” he admitted to the Denver Post, as broadcast by AMPE.

Colorado and much of the western United States are affected by drought which lasts for years, making the area very vulnerable to fires.

Although the latter are considered a natural component of the climate cycle, as they allow the vegetation to clear and reduce the spread of plant diseases, their extent is increasing alarmingly.

With global warming, the intensity and frequency of droughts, which threaten the food security of populations, are in danger of escalating, even if the goal of reducing temperatures to 1.5 ° C relative to pre-industrial is achieved. time.

Moreover, rising temperatures, as well as the fact that heat waves and droughts are multiplying, create ideal conditions for fires in forests and areas with vegetation.

In recent years, the American West has experienced unprecedented fires, especially the states of California and Oregon.

For Daniel Swain, meteorologist at UCLA, it is “hard to believe” that fires break out in December, a normal period in which no such fires are recorded in the area.

“But if you take the record summer heat and drought, the fact that we only have two centimeters of snow so far this season, and add a storm with terribly high winds, gusts of 160 kilometers per hour and above (…) the result is exceptional. “Dangerous fires that move very fast,” said the researcher.