When you get out in front of something like that, you weigh your decisions very carefully. You can survive if you have a decent little space with short grass between the trees. Our little mostly geriatric band of volunteers did it last year about this time. It's a bit of a gulp once you know that you're committed and the fire is going to burn over and all around you. It's too late to get out and it's sort of interesting to see if you're going to survive.
Fortunately our local chief had worked on some fed fires and had seen the elephant, so we relied on him to judge whether we could shelter in place.
We (2 of us with a brush engine and 200 gallons of water) had gotten all set up at a residence when the county sheriff came by in a panic and screamed that EVERYBODY had to get out of the canyon right now! We just stood there and told him he needed to talk to our chief
The fire at South Fork looks like it's burning a lot hotter than even the one we had here last June. But the trees are a lot taller in Colorado than this prairie Ponderosa.
Last word on the news is that they think that they're going to save the town of South Fork.
