The top photo shows the Waldo Canyon Fire on Monday, June 25 as it burned above Colorado Springs. The bottom shows the fire after it exploded Tuesday, June 26, and roared down the foothills into Mountain Shadows neighborhood, killing two people and destroying nearly 350 homes.

Want to watch the Waldo Canyon Fire?

The folks at SimTable.com sent me a link to a computer animation of the fire on a topographical map.

It’s fascinating to watch.

You can zoom in and out of the topo map and see how the fire erupted on Tuesday afternoon, June 26.

Not only did the folks at SimTable.com send me their computer animation for the Waldo Canyon Fire, they made a generous offer to Colorado Springs.

This from SimTable’s Stephen Guerin:

“We’re close enough in Santa Fe for a day drive for a community meeting. We could bring a table and load some of your neighborhoods and simulate potential fires. Waldo Canyon Fire Progression. 2012″

Krys Nystrom with Fire Service Support in New Mexico told me of this fascinating computer program that simulates wildfire behavior. SimTable uses a table of sand, sculpted into mountains, canyons, rivers, plains to recreat the topography of a specific community.

Then the computer model projects a wildfire onto the community, showing how it would burn based on fire breaks, wind, etc.

I would love to see the Waldo Canyon fire recreated on a SimTable.

And I’m guessing simulations of fires on Cheyenne Mountain or in Black Forest and other places would really help educate folks about the dangers they face.

You can also go to www.SimTable.com to see a 30-second video, also.

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