The best way to stay in touch with this ongoing emergency is on twitter, which will offer you links to live radio and photos, maps, evacuation updates. Click below image for twitter feed for #Boulderfire.

Sunshine and Four Mile Canyon in Boulder, Colorado currently closed due to fire.

I awoke this morning to rapid knocking on my door.  I groggily got out of bed to find my landlord standing in the doorway, “There is a fire!”

Somehow I had managed to walk by the six six-foot tall windows in my living room without looking outside.  If I had, I would have seen billows of white-grey smoke emerging from Four Mile Canyon, not too far from where I stood.

The fire, which one source indicates had supposedly begun by a crash into a propane tank in Emerson Gulch, had turned wild.  It wasn’t long before flames emerged from the other side of the mountain outside my window and began spreading northwards and westwards.

Close your windows and blinds!  Houses most easily catch on fire (in these cases) from extreme heat exposure through windows that have been left open.

Like many other mountain dwellers, I now sit safely in downtown Boulder, my car brimming over with valuables, waiting.  The house I currently call my home could be swallowed in flame, along with many others.  The fire has put 100 homes at risk.

Those trying to get back to their homes (but restricted from doing so) wait anxiously at the base; crying for their pets, loved ones, and valuables that remain on the mountain.

All the firefighters in the county are currently trying their best to subdue the fire.  Strong winds are making it difficult for the 3 requested air tankers to aid in extinguishing.  These winds also put firefighters at greater risk as the fire is able to spread rapidly.  Evacuations have been made throughout the area, most recently including the Gold Hill area and a four mile radius around it.

All we can do now is wait for the results.  The smoke has seemed to clear from the streets of downtown and the small flakes of ash whirling through the air have become more and more dispersed.  Please feel free to comment with any updates.

Posted at 2:56 pm on Sep. 6, 2010

Marissa Faye is a cultural explorer hailing from the far eastern lands of Sherborn, Massachusetts.

She is like a sponge—absorbing all things around her with a forever unquenched curiosity.  Often times she is hidden away in her mountain fortress, avidly writing tales of fact and fiction. She is a flowerchild at heart and an enthusiast of  art, music, food, and the infinite explorations of life.

Zombie-lovers often refer to her as Tree.