Have You Seen This Incredible Video of a Family’s Escape From a CO Wildfire?
- Posted on March 29, 2012 at 1:22pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
- Print »
- Email »
Image source: YouTube
As crews in Colorado race to contain a destructive and deadly wildfire outside Denver, incredible cell phone footage has emerged showing one family’s escape from the towering flames.
Kaleb Gulick, 13, shot the video in the car with his father as his family sped through the inferno in two separate cars Monday afternoon, Denver Fox affiliate KDVR-TV reported.
“Daddy!” Rhoanabella Gulick’s small tearful voice cries out against a dark red sky.
“We’re going to make it,” Doug Gulick answers. “We’re going to be fine.”
“Where’s Mom?” she asks urgently. “Why is she stopping?”
The mother, identified as Kim Olson according to KDVR, had stopped temporarily because she thought the road was blocked.
They continue on, surrounded by thick smoke, flying embers and flames just beyond the road until just moments later when they emerge into clearer skies.
“We’re out, we’re out,” Doug Gulick says.
The family had been following a local blog with updates from a fire scanner when they made the decision to get out, Kim Olson said Thursday on Fox News.
“I had doubts if we could make it and i was considering turning around,” she said.
“[The sky] went from perfect daylight to perfect darkness…just driving through those trees,” Doug Gulick told KDVR. “It was all over in a minute, but it seemed like forever to get to that. And all of a sudden we saw sunlight, and knew we were going to be okay.”
More than 500 firefighters are battling the blaze, which has charred about 6 square miles of mostly rural area southwest of Denver’s suburbs since it started Monday, according to the Associated Press. The fire began as a controlled burn by the Forest Service to thin dry vegetation that grew out of control.
Twenty-seven homes have been damaged or destroyed, with an elderly couple found dead in one of the homes.
Comments (27)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 693 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 499 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 352 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 332 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 321 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 321 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 332 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 244 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 321 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
iahp_mom
Posted on April 16, 2012 at 2:21pmA foul language warning would have been nice. Come on Blaze staff – Let us know about objectionable content.
Report Post »elihu
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:13amWow! That was a real yawner…
Report Post »GoodStuff
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 4:44pmWhy kind of father curses like that in front of his kids? I’ve been near forest fires, and a friggin tornado when right down my street, yet I’ve never felt the need to curse like a sailor in front of children.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 5:19pmWell good for you. Until you are in his situation, don’t be judgmental.
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 9:45pmShut the hell up goodstuff.
Report Post »Pro-Palin
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 11:55pmThe man lost his house and all u can worry about is his mouth? I lost my house 10 Feb last year in a fire and it is devistating. Plus these guys have the fire chasing them.
Report Post »TennMom4
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 1:01amI’m with you – no need for f bombs and I disagree with those of you saying the situation warrants it. In front of his children he could keep the language clean. While I’m on this subject, it seems “eff” has become as “like” was in the 80′s (remember, ‘like, totally cool, like, you know?’). What is with that? “Eff” this and “eff” that is so commonplace and it makes me sick. Talking like that just makes you sound like an immature, intellectually vacant idiot. Yes, I’m blunt! And it’s not just the young people, grown adults are doing this. Really, people? Ok, enough ranting.
Report Post »ChevalierdeJohnstone
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:42amShut the frick up goodstuff.
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 8:43pmWe he should have done is kill the kid for crying when we know he told them to be quite. His failure to do what the Bible says to do to disobedient kids will only bring about his ruin.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 3:55pmI want to know where the guy on the motorcycle was going? Wasn’t he headed into the hot zone?
Report Post »rambosharley
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 3:03pmWOW! I was scared for them!
Report Post »TexasHunter
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 3:57pmEPA better fine that fire!! There is an idea they should just go around putting out wild fires instead of harassing our coal refineries. Do something useful for a start!
Report Post »BIGNINTHENORTHWEST
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:50pmThis family was incredibly STUPID! they left a multi acre grassy area to drive through heavy fuels with no idea whether the road was even passable. By the way, did anyone note that this was an “escaped” USFS control burn” and that there were fatalities involved?
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 4:01pmThat’s what was reported. Don’t think there will be any charges against the fire crew incharge of the “controlled burn”.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 4:05pmI know it’s hard to believe, but I will keep this simple so you can understand….
Grass…burns…
Report Post »BIGNINTHENORTHWEST
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 6:21pmKICKINBACK… Overgrazed grass in early Spring will not burn with enough heat to scorch the paint on your car. However, getting hit by a falling tree, getting trapped in a heavy fuel area, or running off the road due to poor visability are many times fatal. Thirty plus years of fighting fire in California gives me the creds to say the Forest Service is incompetent and an individual who leaves an island of RELATIVE safety for a risky escape shouldn’t live in a wildland area subject to fires.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 10:21pmBig… – This family is not incredibly stupid. “The family had been following a local blog with updates from a fire scanner when they made the decision to get out”. The Father saw the danger with his own eyes. They escaped with their lives. We lived in the Uintas in Utah & experienced one of the biggest fires in that State’s history. The sun is blacked out by the smoke. The wind shifts & moves the flames. You never know which spark from 3 miles away is going to hit a spot next to you & erupt in uncontrollable flames in a matter of seconds. They did the right thing. Walk in a man’s shoes before judging him. God bless you.
Report Post »BIGNINTHENORTHWEST
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 12:01amDONTBOTHER ME…
I have more than walked in their shoes. I’ve fought fires from the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon to the Mexican Border. Getting secondhand information that is even minutes old is tantamount to getting rumors. You do NOT use a road that has over reaching foliage for escape when staying where you are is defensible. flame length from the grass in the video would not exceed 18″ and that in bursts rather than a wall of flame that would suck all of the oxygen out of the air, kill the engines on their vehicles and roast their children alive. If you live in the wildland, you must take the initiative to prepare for such an event and the first element of preparation is to understand the risks of leaving versus running.
My own home was threatened in 1978 by a wind driven timber fire in Northern California. My family stayed put because it was safer to stay than to run into an unknown inferno.
Report Post »BIGNINTHENORTHWEST
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:46pmFIDDLEFADDLE, the mom was in the OTHER car, the son was taking the video, Dad was driving….
By the way, being a non-fan of the USFS, did anyone pay attention to the cause of the fire being an escaped control burn and that there were fatalities involved?
Report Post »fiddlefaddle
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:29pmOkay, maybe I’m the odd person out here, but my first thought when I saw this video and heard the poor child in the backseat who seemed to be genuinely terrified was why was the mom videotaping this instead of trying to calm down her child? Yeah, she was telling the kid they were going to be okay, but seriously, put the camera down and hold your child! I assume the video has been sold by the family to the media, so I guess that answers my question?
Report Post »GoodStuff
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 4:41pmDid you read the article? The mom and dad were in two separate cars.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 5:25pmThe 13 year old son filmed it. He did say something to his sister to help calm her.
Liberals – can’t read, can’t listen.
I have college students just like this, they honestly look me in the face and ask the same question I answered ten minutes ago in class.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:05pmThat takes a whole pile of gits! Racing down a gravel road with no idea of whats ahead and fire moving like crazy. Brave people- even if they’re white!
Report Post »Biff_Poindexter
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:20pmTalk about forcing race into something for absolutely no reason….
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:00pmI once heard government compared to fire. I think that fella might have had a point…
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 1:45pmOnly you can prevent wild fires.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 1:31pmThey are lucky they made it. The flames were in the trees next to the road.
Report Post »