fires

At the Amarillo Fire Department, it was a Monday.

Those wildfires in Colorado don’t show much sign of abating. In fact, more than 32,000 residents in or near Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city, were ordered to evacuate after the Waldo Canyon Fire doubled in size Tuesday night.

After three days of violence and looting, British Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament from its summer recess, and ordered 16,000 police officers to restore order on the streets of London. More than 525 people have already been arrested for rioting, filling every holding cell in the city.

The question has been up in the air for a while now and we have now gotten our answer. Potter, Carson and Armstrong counties have temporarily banned the sale and use of any fireworks. These counties made a disaster declaration to Perry, and waiting on approval for a 30 day extension to reach through the July 4th holiday. Randall County has made no such declaration.

This weeks fires have left the Amarillo landscape changed, at least for a while. Huge areas are scorched and smoldering after fires have raged in the area. Residents were evacuated from LaPaloma and the surrounding area yesterday as fires threatened that community. For now, everything has calmed down. But with no rain in sight, Amarillo is still in a high fire threat.

Little rain and high winds make for dangerous situations in the Texas Panhandle. The extremely dry conditions have the risk of wildfires in the red. Yesterday is just another instance of a fire that sends people fleeing and wondering what's next. Use caution whenever you are planning outdoor events and especially when smoking outdoors.