Firefighters in Colorado have now contained 65 percent of the worst wildfire in the state’s history. The blaze killed two people and destroyed nearly 500 homes.
Investigators suspect the Black Forest blaze was man-made. The question now is, was it intentional or an accident?
Fire crews working around the clock to contain the wildfire received some added help Sunday as heavy rain slowed down the spread of the destructive blaze.
Evacuees attempted to enter the fire zone this weekend to see if their homes had survived the devastating fire. Police prevented many of them from entering.
“All of us are getting treated like criminals,” homeowner Picker Munson said. “We can’t come out and if we come out, we can’t get back in.”
Those residents who managed to get through were shocked at what they saw.
“We were one of the many that was evacuated,” evacuee John Poss said. “I was very fortunate. Our place is intact. My daughter lost her home.”
Although the weather has helped firefighters turn the corner, authorities are taking extra precautions.
“We have a crime scene in there,” El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said. “We have downed power lines in there; we have trees falling each time there’s a gust of wind.”
“The people who lost their homes, they’re going to hit rock bottom again when they see their homes for the first time, which will probably be this week,” Poss said.
“People need to have faith, faith in Jesus. That’s all,” he added.
While heavy rains were viewed as a blessing by many in the Colorado Spring’s wildfire zone, elsewhere in the country they were viewed as a curse.
San Antonio saw more than 17 inches of rain. Texas rangers endured waist high flood waters searching for people in need of rescue. The monsoon-like rains caused the banks of the Rio Grande to overflow.
Heavy rains also pushed into America’s heartland with 9 to 10 inches falling in the span of two hours Saturday in Springfield, Mo. Flash floods washed cars right off the roadway.
“Even though your vehicle is heavy, the water is buoyant and can lift you up in your car and that’s how you lose traction and get blown off the side of the road…and you can get into real trouble that way,” Springfield Fire Department’s Jeff Elliot said
The severe spring weather isn’t over yet. Much of the nation is expected to experience extreme weather throughout the week.
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