Indian Gulch Fire
Golden, Colorado: March 21, 2011

This fire started on Sunday, March 20th, near Mt. Galbraith, which is between where 6th Avenue cuts into the mountains and Golden Gate Canyon. Mike and I are assuming it was due to manmade causes, because it has been so incredibly dry this year and there weren't any thunderstorms, lightning, etc, in the area. With how dry everything is (only got ~1/3 our normal snowfall), it wouldn't take much...

Currently, the fire is burning in the foothills west of our house - quite a bit west. We are not part of the area that has been warned of possible evacuations, nor are we part of the Golden Gate Canyon area that has been evacuated. All that said, conditions are very bad this week and the fire is being taken seriously. Our mayor, Jacob Smith, posted this on facebook tonight:

"Indian Gulch fire upgraded to higher level of severity. Type One Incident Team (basically best incident mgrs in the country) are mobilizing and should be operational within 24 hours. Crews will actively work tonight if conditions permit. Weather forecast is bad all week: dry, high winds, low humidity. Mountain Ridge remains on standby but no evacuations in Golden city yet. Golden HS is likely location if it occurs."

So, I've been busy doing what I do best - fretting and taking pictures. *grin*

Here are some pictures I took from our block when I got home:

I don't get to go to Seven Trees (on the south side of North Table Mountain) too often ever since the county broke Mike's heart by putting in a gravel road and parking lot. Since it would double as a good place to get pictures, I took a trip to Seven Trees tonight.

Indian Gulch Fire as seen from Seven Trees:

You can just barely see some of the flames in this one. Mike said the flames were much more pronounced as he drove home from the game. The winds are still very high.