Mountains through the smoke from the Colorado Springs Waldo Canyon fire. This area, across I-25, was in flames the night before (Wednesday). The air is hazy with smoke that sticks on your clothes and waters your eyes, but it's nothing like the dark, thick cloud that was there the day before. You can't see it in the photo, but a gnat-size helicopter carrying hundreds of gallons of water flies back and forth gathering water to pour on the wildfire.

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

We like to get outside a lot here in Colorado Springs, but not these days. The record-breaking heat has been like an oven, and a thick haze of smoke burns at our eyes and lungs.

Early this week, we stayed in our air-conditioned homes or businesses listening the local news, which told us the latest on the wildfire that threatened our western city boundary. Still, it was relatively peaceful.

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