We had a wild fire in Colorado Springs last summer. It made national news when 375 or so homes were lost as the east side of the fire ripped down a mountain into town.
I live in a small town in the mountains above COS, and the fire caused evacuations as the west end of it approached.
Early in the fire, the highway between my town (Woodland Park) and Colorado Springs was closed. There are two other highways that intersect here, but both lead into the mountains. It's a simple thing to get to Colorado Springs using these other routes, but it adds 90 minutes or so to a 30 minute drive.
The day after the highway was closed, our grocery stores basically ran out of food. I have pics of the shelves at Wal Mart, and they are bare. Gas stations ran out of low and mid grade gas. All this in one day with only one of three highways closed.
The shortages didn't last long because we were quickly re supplied via the other routes, but it's an interesting example of just how quickly there can be nothing to buy in the event of a panic.
At the time of the fire, there was an arsonist in our area. He is credited with 15 or more fires, and there is speculation that he started the main fire. Most of the other fires he started were along the other two routes into town. If he'd been a bit more successful, he could easily have isolated us in a single day. As an aside, he was never caught and there is very real suspicion that it was a terror attack.
I live in a small town in the mountains above COS, and the fire caused evacuations as the west end of it approached.
Early in the fire, the highway between my town (Woodland Park) and Colorado Springs was closed. There are two other highways that intersect here, but both lead into the mountains. It's a simple thing to get to Colorado Springs using these other routes, but it adds 90 minutes or so to a 30 minute drive.
The day after the highway was closed, our grocery stores basically ran out of food. I have pics of the shelves at Wal Mart, and they are bare. Gas stations ran out of low and mid grade gas. All this in one day with only one of three highways closed.
The shortages didn't last long because we were quickly re supplied via the other routes, but it's an interesting example of just how quickly there can be nothing to buy in the event of a panic.
At the time of the fire, there was an arsonist in our area. He is credited with 15 or more fires, and there is speculation that he started the main fire. Most of the other fires he started were along the other two routes into town. If he'd been a bit more successful, he could easily have isolated us in a single day. As an aside, he was never caught and there is very real suspicion that it was a terror attack.
