Sitting under a shady tree to seek relief from 90-degree temperatures at a wildfire evacuation shelter in Loveland on Wednesday, Jenny Coll had a long list of worries.
Would her home along the Big Thompson River survive the 鈥済inormous鈥� and 鈥渁wful鈥� Alexander Mountain Fire?
Would the hundreds of firefighters working to protect it and other structures be okay?
How long will her Airbnb on the property be forced to sit empty?
And will her husband鈥檚 art studio survive?
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of wondering and scared about the state of the property,鈥� she said, sitting beside her teardrop camping trailer in the parking lot of the evacuation center. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to leave.鈥�
A sheriff鈥檚 deputy knocked on Coll鈥檚 door at 4 p.m. Tuesday with an evacuation order, so she grabbed Torrey, her 60-pound standard poodle, loaded her truck, and headed to the evacuation shelter in Loveland.
She became one of the hundreds of Coloradans whose lives were quickly upended by large wildfires along the Front Range in Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer counties.
At the Red Cross shelter at the Foundations Church in Loveland, Coll said the stress started to go away.
鈥淚 was burned out,鈥� she said about the hours after the evacuation. 鈥淏ut now I have my tea, and I've got facilities if I need them, and a shade tree (here at the shelter). It鈥檚 a safe place, and it鈥檚 run by people who care. We鈥檒l live through it.鈥�
Behind her, dozens of volunteers carried huge cases of food and water to evacuees while others watched dogs or cooked meals.
Coll was one of about 17 evacuees who spent the night at the shelter Tuesday evening.
Dozens of volunteers were busy in the afternoon preparing lunch for evacuees.
Gov. Jared Polis toured the facility in the morning and thanked volunteers before joining top firefighting officials at a Loveland fire station to provide updates about all of the blazes forcing evacuations.
He outlined the aerial assets being used on fires right now: A military-grade Firehawk helicopter is taking water out of Horsetooth Reservoir. Two helicopters from Wyoming, three air tankers, and two aerial reconnaissance planes are also helping.
"These resources are nimble. They move where they鈥檙e needed most," Polis said.
Stan Hilkey, the director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, said there have been "no barriers" to getting firefighters and resources out.
"We're in it for the long haul," he said. He added that wildfires in Colorado will continue for "weeks if not months."
Asked if the flurry of big fires along the Front Range was stretching Colorado鈥檚 firefighting resources too thin, Polis said the state is in a much better position than it was in past years when blazes like the Cameron Peak fire and the East Troublesome impacted the state.
鈥淲e're in a much stronger position because Colorado controls the limited fleet we have,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you go back in time to the last fire, several years ago, the last major fire and fires of the past, we relied entirely on an interstate pool鈥he majority of the resources that are being deployed are under Colorado's direct control. If they weren't, it's likely they wouldn't even be here right now.鈥�
Polis said he expected most evacuees this week would be able to return to their homes shortly.
No injuries have been reported, and no structures have been lost in the Alexander Mountain Fire, according to the Larimer County sheriff.
The National Interagency Fire Center is also reporting that the fire has now grown to 7,648 acres. About 250 firefighters are on the scene. The biggest concerns for firefighters in that area include the community of Cedar Park and the potential for the fire to jump over State Highway 34.
Meanwhile, no significant growth has been reported for the Stone Canyon Fire near Lyons. Most of the fire activity is to the north and east, away from populated areas, according to the Boulder County sheriff.
Five homes were reported destroyed in the Stone Canyon Fire, with one fatality. The Boulder County sheriff said the fatality is being investigated but had no additional comment Wednesday afternoon.
The Quarry Fire in Jefferson County is at 341 acres, with no damage to homes reported.
"As the threat of wildfire season continues, I want to encourage my fellow Coloradans to be fire-aware," Polis said. "They can catch on very quickly."
