Sonofabitch. Now we’ve got a live one encroaching upon greater cosmopolitan Bibleburg.
Dubbed the Pyramid Mountain fire, it started somewhere near Waldo Canyon and is already estimated at some 600 acres. An assortment of mandatory and voluntary beat-it orders are in place for west- and north-siders, but at the moment it seems the prevailing winds are pushing the thing north and west, so Your Humble Narrator is not in danger — at the moment, anyway — of becoming a hot dog, har har.
The fire has been declared a federal emergency, and renowned feddle-gummint rassler Dougie Lamborn (R-Hypocrisy) reportedly “stands ready to assist if federal resources are required.” In light of the serious nature of the event I’ll refrain from delivering the obvious ironic rimshot.
More as we hear it.
• Late update: The fire is now officially named for Waldo Canyon (no “Where’s Waldo? jokes, please), and late word is that it’s torched a couple thousand acres and displaced about as many people. Nobody hurt so far, according to the local rumormongers, which is good. You can replace burned-up people, just like you can replace burned-up stuff, but the process takes longer and the outcome is uncertain.
The winds seem to have died down, but it’s always creepy to look at the sky at 9:30 p.m. and see peach-colored clouds and a moon that looks like an orange slice from some kid’s Halloween candy haul.
Mad Blog Media 
I’m starting to feel about smoke plumes the way I felt about earthquakes when I lived in Berkeley. After riding out the Loma Prieta quake those little 4.0 blips didn’t seem so benign anymore. Now even a thunderhead in the shape of a plume makes me nervous.
Deja vu all over again.
http://www.labikes.blogspot.com/2011/06/las-conchas-fire-this-ones-upwind-again.html
Stay safe.
Khal,
Even viewing from down here at a safe distance in Pojoaque, that one was scary. By 5 PM that evening we had ash and burnt needles raining down on our patio.
Damn. Sorry to hear this. Keep safe.
You know, I am beginning to really like our blizzards. Not that we’ve had one for two years. Wishing you guys can ride this out with no lose or sorrow. Sorry my garden hose isn’t long enough to reach.
Shit. And we thought last summer was bad.
I guess that back in Weirdcliffe, you escaped the megadraught period we seem to be moving into. When we moved to BombTown a decade ago, it seemed really nice to be on the side of a sky island festooned with Ponderosa, elk, etc., even in the immediate aftermath of the Cerro Grande Fire. Now what is left up there looks like a liability, not to mention a Marine haircut given by a guy on LSD, and we are lucky when we get enough snow to make a trip up there to ski worthwhile.
Highs near 100 all next week, and no rain, is the prediction for the Rio Grande Valley. Big high pressure cell set up over Texas is driving off the monsoon. (When is the last time someone said something good about Texas?) Gonna be tough on those Rio Arriba Ditch Weed Growers, Ltd.
Vermont or New Hampshire are both starting to look pretty good. Anyone interested in a house where you have to import water from the West Coast?
For anyone following the burning of Bibleburg. Given the number of born-agins there, I wonder if they wonder why God is so pissed off.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/blaze-140753-fire-side.html
We had our fire-side theatre last year. I don’t wish this on anyone, even Focus on the Family. And definitely not PO’G.