{"id":775,"date":"2023-07-05T04:06:25","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/?p=775"},"modified":"2023-07-05T04:06:26","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:06:26","slug":"july-4th-wrapup-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/?p=775","title":{"rendered":"July 4th Wrapup Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There was heavy rain, strong wind, and intense lightning on the 4th<\/sup> of July holiday, and a lot of fireworks displays got put on hold as parks were evacuated, streets flooded, and many people were forced to find shelter in their cars or in public restrooms.  And at least 2 homes were still burned down, due to fireworks\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(July 4 vxr 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :43)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-July-4-vxr-1<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Just about every fireworks show on the front range went on hold for a time last night as strong thunderstorms dropped heavy rain, and blew in with strong winds.  Most of those shows still went off, though a bit later than planned.  A couple communities, Golden and Highlands Ranch, called off their big 4th<\/sup> events before the storms even got to them, however.  Concerts were delayed, a soccer game was postponed due to blowing rain that looked like a hurricane, and the wind gusts were huge in many areas statewide.  Around the 4 Corners, gusts of 74 miles an hour were recorded on the holiday, Kremmling saw 70, there were 67 mile an hour gusts at Aurora\u2019s Buckley Air Force Base, and Denver International Airport recorded winds as high as 54 miles per hour.  The storms ended up passing by many places, with holiday activities still able to go on, just later than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(July 4 vxr 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :32)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-July-4-vxr-2<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Holiday activities were canceled in a few places like Highlands Ranch and Golden, but for most of Colorado, the many heavy thunderstorms that rolled across the state on the holiday just delayed festivities, instead of cancelling them.  After the Denver area got hit, much of the eastern plains got those storms, and had watches and warnings up late into the night.  At Arvada\u2019s Stenger Sports Complex, people sheltered in cars and restrooms during the worst of the storms, but later planned fireworks went ahead with no trouble.  So much rain had already hit some places over the last month, one of the rainiest ever around Denver, that area got considerable street flooding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(July 4 vxr 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :39)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-July-4-vxr-3<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There were temporary airport closings, parks where people couldn\u2019t watch delayed fireworks because those parks looked like lakes, and a lot more weather issues statewide on the 4th<\/sup>, so it wasn\u2019t a typical holiday.  In most places, however, after people came out from sheltering and thunderstorms passed by, fireworks could celebrate the nation\u2019s independence with little trouble.  There were bigger problems in some places, however–  the holiday storms may have started a new wildfire in the mountains.  Investigators now say what\u2019s been named the \u201cDevil\u2019s Thumb\u201d fire was probably touched off by lightning in Grand County, about 10 miles northeast of Winter Park.  Deputies initially reported it had scorched about 50 acres, and aircraft water drops were made.  That fire didn\u2019t threaten any homes or other buildings right away, so there were no evacuations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAG–  Across the western part of the state, red flag fire warnings were up on the holiday, for dangerous winds and dry conditions.  But firefighters report no significant growth on the Spring Creek wildfire near Parachute, or the smaller Chris Mountain or Coal Mine fires, burning farther south, near Pagosa Springs in Archuleta County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Douglas County community of Parker on the 4th<\/sup>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Two House July 4 Fire wrap\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :32)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-Two-House-July-4-Fire-wrap<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

230705 B Westmoreland- saw big flames\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :05\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Q:\u2026really scary\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-B-Westmoreland-it-was-scary<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two families weren\u2019t able to go home on the holiday, after authorities say one of their neighbors threw used, but still hot, fireworks into a plastic bin, and a big fire erupted there.  Firefighters saved Brian Westmoreland\u2019s home, but couldn\u2019t for the house next door\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705 B Westmoreland- fireworks basics\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :07\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Q:\u2026don\u2019t be an idiot\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

230705-B-Westmoreland-dont-be-an-idiot<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Investigators in Aurora were also looking last night into whether a townhouse fire there Monday night might\u2019ve been caused by fireworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was heavy rain, strong wind, and intense lightning on the 4th of July holiday, and a lot of fireworks displays got put on hold as parks were evacuated, streets flooded, and many people were forced to find shelter in their cars or in public restrooms.  And at least 2 homes were still burned down, due […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rnrnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":782,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions\/782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainnewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}