Jeffrey Lucas, a resident of the Mountain Shadows area in Colorado Springs for all of his 23 years, said he knows his family’s home is gone and believes the area suffered heavy damage.

“The fire was literally coming down the hill as all of us were running to grab things out of the house and get out of there,” Lucas said.

Had Lucas and his parents not been watching TV for updates on the fire, they would have had no warning, he said.

“There were no calls from the police and no one from the fire department coming to the door,” he said. “It was about 30 minutes from the moment we saw the warning on the news to get out to the time when the house caught fire.”

The family had some belongings packed because of the warnings from previous days to be ready to go. Still, they believed they were out of danger Tuesday.

“It started off as such as nice, normal day to then end with us running from a wall of fire headed toward our house,” Lucas said. “The smoke was so bad as we were trying to leave, I couldn’t hardly see or breathe while driving in the gridlock of people getting out of the area.”

Lucas said he feared that many homes were destroyed — something fire officials have not yet addressed publicly.

“I know what I saw, and I know how many homes are in the area,” he said. “They’re definitely gone, there wasn’t even a chance.”

Lucas and his parents are trying not to think about the loss they have suffered.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but, yeah, we have no home. I guess we are nomadic,” he said.

Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409 or rparker@denverpost.com