The Colorado Rockies may be sitting dead last in the NL West, but that didn’t stop them from taking game one of the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals at Coors Field on Friday night. Now, rather than having the chance to lock up the series in Saturday’s encore, the Royals can only tie the three-game set with a win.

Leading the way on the mound will be right-hander Seth Lugo, who has put together an All-Star caliber season since joining Kansas City (48-42) last offseason. His 11 wins so far this season are matched only by Chris Sale of Atlanta, in the midst of a resurgent year of his own. Lugo also brings a 2.17 earned run average into the contest.

Facing him will be Austin Gomber, whose record stands at 1-5 with a 4.72 ERA. The Rockies (31-57) have had their share of struggles on the mound, which has conversely been a surprising strength for the visiting Royals. Even so, Kansas City is just 1-3 in the month of July thus far. With a comeback win in this series, that mark would turn even. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. CT.

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A family in Colorado Springs has been temporarily displaced from their home after their dog accidentally started a fire in the early morning hours of June 26. 

“On Wednesday, June 26th at 4:43 a.m. CSFD was dispatched to a possible structure fire at a home,” said the Colorado Springs Fire Department in a July 2 post on their Facebook page.

“Homeowners reported to our call takers that they had experienced a fire on the stove in their home that had been extinguished by one of the homeowners,” they said.

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By the time the fire department arrived four minutes later, there was “no visible fire or smoke,” but there was “evidence of a fire,” they said.

“The male homeowner was able to extinguish the fire before crews got there but was later transported to a local hospital for smoke inhalation,” said the fire department, adding that nobody else – human or animal – was injured in the fire. 

When the fire department looked at the security footage, they discovered a most unusual source of the fire: the family dog. 

“We determined their pup got a bit curious and accidentally switched on the oven, which had some boxes on top of it,” they said. 

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Video posted by the department shows a large dog leaning on one of the stove’s switches, which then ignites a box – starting a pretty substantial fire. (WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE.)

The dog managed to turn on the stove, which then ignited a cardboard box that had been left on a burner. (Colorado Springs Fire Dept. /TMX )

The homeowners told the fire department that they were woken up by their Apple HomePod, which issued a “High Heat” alert. They were then able to put out the fire before it spread past the kitchen. 

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“This is a good reminder to always have working smoke alarms inside and outside every sleeping area and on every floor of the home, ensure all combustibles are away from your stovetop/oven, and know two ways out of every room in your home in the event of a fire,” said the Colorado Springs Fire Department. 

The Colorado Springs Fire Department said the story was a good reminder to have working smoke detectors. (iStock)

A GoFundMe has been started to assist the homeowners while they wait for insurance to process their claims, reported local media in Colorado Springs. 

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“Their clothing and items in their home were ruined due to smoke damage,” says the GoFundMe, which was started by a woman claiming to be the female homeowner’s mother. Fox News Digital emailed the owner of the GoFundMe asking for additional comment and details. 

“Their whole upstairs is now unlivable. They need help with finances due to being out of their home. Also her dogs and other animals are displaced,” she said. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Colorado Springs Fire Department, Apple, and SimpliSafe for further comment. 

Over the past two weeks, Maggie Gaddis has toured the state, with stops in Boulder, Estes Park, Gunnison, Durango and Chaffee County, to check on the status of wildflower blooms.

Her advice? It’s time to get out there and be amazed.

“My recommendation is that folks hurry up, go experience it now,” said Gaddis, executive director of the Colorado Native Plant Society. “The flowers are amazing. They’re just on this hyper-drive, super-track. I’ve got plants in my garden that have bloomed already that don’t typically bloom until August.”

In much of the state, where abundant spring moisture was followed by hot temperatures, wildflowers are blooming earlier than normal, Gaddis said. As for the high alpine environment where snowmelt continued into June, the peak should come in a couple of weeks.

“At higher elevations, we had a really strong snowpack, so the alpine plants are right on schedule,” Gaddis said. “I was on Pikes Peak a week ago and nothing was blooming. Last year on July 6, I went on the same field trip and everything was blooming. I think we’re right on schedule for alpine, high-elevation stuff, because the snow is just barely melting. So, mid-July is a great time for those alpine flowers.”

Her advice tracks with that of Nicola Ripley, director of the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, which are located at 8,200 feet. Ripley said they are in full bloom.

“We’ve had a lot of moisture up in the high country,” Ripley said. “It’s been monsoon season here. The gardens are definitely peaking, particularly the wildflowers in the garden. We’ve had warm weather as well as rainy weather. It would appear that everything is either right on time or a little early.”

Hikers venturing into the higher elevations are apt to encounter snow and mud.

“If you’re looking for alpine meadows, in the next week or so I think you’d be seeing the peaks there,” Ripley said. “But if you want to get up onto the alpine ridges, if you’re going through north-facing areas that still have snow on them, you’re talking closer to the end of July or the third week in July before the little alpines are in peak. What you would call the sub-alpine meadows, the paintbrush and lupines that people like to see, anytime in the next couple of weeks would be a good time to go.”

If you’re interested in visiting the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, admission is free but donations are encouraged. They’re open daily from dawn until dusk. The education center is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p,m.

In Front Range mountains, some wilderness passes are still snowed in, according to Whitney McCurry, a public affairs specialist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Those forests stretch along the Continental Divide from Mount Blue Sky to the Wyoming border.

“My understanding is that balsam root is blooming, columbine started popping off last week, larkspur and lupine already flowered out and are done,” McCurry said. “We’re seeing most blooms coming out around 10,000 feet now, 9,500, something like that.”

The Colorado Native Plant Society maintains a calendar of workshops, webinars, conferences, field trips and presentations about Colorado native plants, habitats and gardening on its website. The phenology, or seasonality, of flowers varies due to many factors including weather, location and elevation. For crowd-sourced information on the status of wildflowers, Gaddis recommends iNaturalist, which has an app and website that are to wildflower viewing what AllTrails is to hiking.

“If you are planning a trip to a place where you don’t live, the best way to prepare yourself is to look up the place you want to go on iNaturalist and see what observations are being made,” Gaddis said. “I go around the state. If I’m going to a place I don’t live in, I use the map function and look up the place. There’s all these dots on the map and you can look at all the things people have recently observed. That’s a great way to plan your trip, see what’s going on.”

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