(this is an updated post from June 27, 2012)
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Sunny’s Colorado home, the mountain she loved so much, is burning.
Photo taken by L.N. Batides June 26, 2012 from Briargate in the Colorado Springs area.
Photo taken by Dan Martinez June 26, 2012 near western part of Colorado Springs.
Worse yet, the homes of Colorado Springs area residents are also burning.
Over 15,000 acres of forest have burned. Hundreds of homes have been lost, and more than 32,000 people have been evacuated.
I cannot imagine the fear of losing everything to a roaring inferno, nor grasp the impact of watching your home, your hopes and dreams, burn to the ground.
Photo taken by J. Stewart on Night 4 of the Waldo Canyon fire.
However, I can feel perhaps a glimmer of the pain, both of those who are living this real-life nightmare, and as someone who spent time on Sunny’s special mountain during a particularly troubled part of my life.
My heart goes out to all those who’ve lost their homes and lives in this tragedy – human, animal, and the forest itself.
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This is the first post in a series I’m doing on the Waldo Canyon fire and its impact on Colorado Springs area residents.
I’d like to thank Springs locals Dan Martinez, Jake Stewart, and L.N. Batides for the kind use of their photos.
My next post will give you a glimpse of what some of the area looked like before the fire, as well as some of the devastation documented by local residents and photographers, so be sure to check back.
I’ll also provide links for those of you who would like to donate to the ongoing recovery efforts. There’s lots of ways to help. Not only do the victims who lost their homes need assistance, so do the animal shelters caring for the hundreds of displaced pets as well as the local fire stations who exhausted their resources fighting this ‘superfire’.
My own resources are somewhat limited, and since I live about 1,200 miles away, there’s not much I can do to help with the cleanup.
However, I do write. Since Pikes Peak and the Colorado Springs area were such important parts of my novel, Watcher: Book I of The Chosen, I’ve decided to donate 50% of its net proceeds thru the end of October to help those suffering from this catastrophe.
I encourage any other artists out there to consider doing the same. Every little bit helps.
My last thought for the day:
Be grateful for what you have, because it can be gone with one wisp of smoke.
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