Boulder Wildfire & Current Evacuations

Life is never dull in the city of Boulder, the county of Boulder, and along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We have another wildfire burning to the west of the city... The fire folks are having a live press conference as I blog, and they say there are over 25 acres involved in the two fires and that over 1600 residences and businesses are under a mandatory evacuation order. It's very close to the western city limits, and evacuations are in effect up to 7th Street on the east. (I live on Folsom, which is actually 26th St., and am one block south of Canyon Blvd., where the fire originated.) The fire started about 8 this morning at Elephant Buttress, which is near mile marker 40 in Boulder Canyon (about 4 miles from the city limits), and is being called the "Boulder Dome fire." Wind has curtailed air drops, as it's blowing at a pretty steady 20 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph. There is a large slurry air-tanker on it's way from Grand Junction, and a small fixed wing plane has made several drops of water. The wind is blowing to the north and northeast, right into Boulder. The road up Boulder Canyon toward Nederland is closed at 7th Street here in town. The Boulder Humane Society has opened its doors to all displaced small animals, and the Boulder County Fairgrounds are again open for all displaced livestock - horses, cattle, goats, llamas, etc. In the city of Boulder, the mandatory evacuation area is: Canyon Blvd on the south, North Street on the north, and 7th Street on the east. The western boundary is mile marker 40. - This means that Finn, the Golden Doodle, and Skippy, the Maine Coon cat, (clients of mine) are now evacuees.....