Colorado wildfires: At the mouth of hell

By AJ Willingham

updated 11:54 AM EDT, Fri June 29, 2012

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At the mouth of hell: A fire blazing near Fort Collins lights up the sky. This iReporter captured the moment atop a boulder in Horsetooth Reservoir.

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At your front door: A student at Colorado College says areas of her community are being ordered to evacuate. "You can see the haze throughout the city," she says. "The air quality is terrible."

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Take cover: Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs becomes a shelter for nearby evacuees.

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Night Fire: An iReporter in Colorado Springs captured flames engulfing the western side of the city. "It's heartbreaking," he said. "I know many people whose homes are in that area."

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A pillar of smoke: This iReporter says his home is about 13 miles from the center of the blaze. "There are about 400 to 500 firefighters working day and night to put out this fire," he says.

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A glowing threat: "It was very overwhelming, not knowing where it was going to go," said this Colorado Springs iReporter. "A lot of natives from here are sad ... but at the same time everyone has come together."

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Capturing the fury: A Colorado Springs man takes pictures of the blaze while wearing a gas mask.

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Nowhere to go: "Within half an hour, the mountains all but disappeared behind a haze," this iReporter said. "People started coughing, my eyes watered, and the campfire smell was everywhere."

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Thank you: A sign near the site of the Waldo Canyon fires thanks firefighters for their help in containing the massive blaze.

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Since the embers in the latest round of Colorado wildfires exploded into a blaze on Tuesday, the flames have destroyed more than 18,500 acres and sent 36,000 fleeing from their homes.

The true nature of the Waldo Canyon fire is only understandable through pictures. The vague notion of a fire burning idly in some uninhabited area is quickly dissolved when these photos emerge -- photos of homes, entire neighborhoods, against a backdrop of angry, orange flames.

The fire has threatened such landmarks as Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy, and terrorized Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city with 400,000 residents. On Friday, the flames turned deadly when one person was found dead inside a burned-out house and another is missing.

President Barack Obama is touring the Colorado Springs area Friday, and has declared the state a disaster area. The Mayor of Colorado Springs, Steve Bach, plans to ask Obama for financial help in dealing with the aftermath.

Although tens of thousands of Colorado citizens have been ordered to evacuate, calmer winds have helped firefighters contain the blaze. As of Friday, the containment level was about 15%. It may not seem like much, after days of destruction, it is welcome progress. However, for those with no choice but to watch their homes, their possessions, and all they know go up in smoke, the end is far from near.

To see more arresting eyewitness images of the Waldo Canyon Fire and other nearby blazes, visit iReport's Open Story. If it is safe to do so from where you are, you can also add you own images and plot them on an interactive map.

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