Last Thursday I didn't sleep well. I was suppose to be watching the grandkids overnight when I got a call from my neighbor saying that the hillside behind our houses was on fire from the lightning storm that blew through. Fortunately Mona was with me so she took over and stayed with the kids while I rushed home. The bad news, the winds had picked up and the fire was on the move. The good news, it was being blown away from my house. If the winds were blowing the opposite direction I probably wouldn't have a house right now.
For the next several days the fire continued to burn. The winds were light keeping the fire on the other side of the ridge, where I-90 is, for the most part . A couple of times the fire would flare up again on our side. Firefighters quickly put them out. It was tough going on the other side. The terrain there is much steeper and crews had a much more difficult time cutting lines around the fire.
This has been an extremely unnerving time for my two neighbors and I. Fire crews and water trucks have been running up and down our little road for several days. On top of that, two or three helicopters and several tanker planes. Now they are just "mopping up". While most of the crews and equipment have moved onto other fires in the area, three hot shot crews, one of which is from Arizona, continue to secure the fire lines.
This has been a terrible time for fires in the West, especially Eastern Washington and North Idaho. It has been extremely dry and hot all summer. They are liking the conditions to the fires of 1910. If you haven't read the book, "The Big Burn", you should. It's a great book about how Teddy Roosevelt formed the Forest Service and how the fires of 1910 effected it.
2 comments:
Good to hear you are all safe. Lots of smoke as we passed thru last month from the Canadian fires ... sorry to hear they have spread. I also recommend The Big Burn not just history but a great insight to what it takes to battle, escape or survive a fire.
Very scary, trust you will play it safe!
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