Holy CRAP....here we go again!

[dewman]

We had a lightning storm yesterday....and this is the result!

We had one last year that burned over 100,000 acres about 15 miles north of us. I could literally see flames from my second story bedroom when I went to bed at night. Not exactly a good night kiss!

[orvet]

Hey Dew,
It is part of the price we pay to live out here in "God's Country."
Several years ago I went you to Leavenworth Washington to help a friend watch over his Mom's house during the Rat Creek Complex Fire. He got all the antiques out before I got up there, but we sat around for several days & put out any sparks that got into the dry grass around the house & in general kept an eye on her place. The fire got within 125 yards of the house, but that was as close as it got.
Pretty scary stuff, Leavenworth was surrounded on 3 sides by the fire. Only one road open in or out of town.

My brother in law is over along the OR/ID boarder now, driving water tanker on one of the fires. I think it will be a long fire season this year.

I will keep you in my prayers. Those fires are scary!
I grew up in the mountains of Southern Oregon. We had fires within 1/4 mile of our place before.

Keep safe,
Dale

[dewman]

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers Dale. Here's a photo of last year's fire. It was called the "Rattlesnake complex fire" and burned something like 100,000 acres. The valley was so full of smoke, many folks had to either leave alltogether or in my wife's case, wear a respirator when outdoors. It's very discomforting when you can see flames on the ridge across the valley....less than 5 miles away when you go to bed at night. As you well know from growing up in the mountains, these things are at the whim of the winds and you just never know when you might get that knock on the door in the middle of the night telling you to grab your pets and get out'a Dodge! I noticed they've brought in the big Chinook helicopters this morning, so I guess they decided to make more of a concerted effort on this problem. You know, it's a shame the FAA won't give approval for use of the 747's for fire retardant bombardment. They can carry an enormous amount of the stuff and they've been proven to be very safe and effective. But, for some reason known only to the big wigs in Washington, they've chosen to drag their feet for several years on this issue. What a shame.

[dewman]

Here's a map they put out today at the local mercantile for the general public. They've now brought in the large Chinook helicopters to help fight the local fires. After previewing the post, I noticed it's kind of hard to see details very well, but the red areas are fires....all within 35-40 miles or so from us....and some a LOT closer!