oh crap.
DammitdammitSOB. I knew it was too hot today. I knew I had a bad feeling about something. It's a La Nina, and we're having Santa Anas. That's not supposed to happen at this time of the year. Severe wildfire alert, and it's already burning a little ways north of me. And we just had big fires here a little over 2 years ago, and again a year before that! So, to prove to the universe that I still remember, and don't need another demonstration...
This was what it looked like as the fires curled around my little town... this was taken about 2 miles from my house. For most of the time while the fires were burning, there was only one road out of town that wasn't closed (and which one it was changed constantly), and after a day or so the gas stations ran out of fuel and they couldn't safely bring more in. A lot of people skeedaddled, but we stayed because our house is on the same street as the air attack base, and if they would protect any road, it would be that one. It was some nervous days, though... had everything packed and ready to load into the car and go at a moment's notice.
Even in the first couple of days, when the smoke swept across the sun, it nearly blotted it out. Later, when the winds died down, the sky was dark, dark brownish-grey, even in the middle of the day it was like twilight, and ash rained down for a week. I had to go out and work in that, with a wet bandana over my nose, and it was... freaky. And not very good for my lungs, what with all the chemicals and particulates in the air...
This was one of the times we went around town to scout out how close it was getting. This is a little hill a couple miles from our place. A lot of people were doing the same thing we were, and gathered to watch as fire devoured the hill in about 5 minutes. There was a guy whose house was at the bottom of the hill... he owned 3 old WWI tanks, and he managed to get one of them out on a flatbed semi before the fire got there.
This is one of the pics I took of the aftermath. This used to be a house... there were a lot of houses lost, some of them brand-spankin' new, some really lovely... and it was strange how one house would be absolutely demolished, and the one right next to it would be untouched.
Look really closely at this next picture... there is something very odd about it... O_o;;
The only good that I can see that came out of the fires was this... the sunsets were spectacular for a month afterward...
So, yeah. In the year after the fires we had enough rain that stuff grew back nicely... but it has been so dry since that it's all just fuel now. Everybody cross your fingers that we don't get hit again!
This was what it looked like as the fires curled around my little town... this was taken about 2 miles from my house. For most of the time while the fires were burning, there was only one road out of town that wasn't closed (and which one it was changed constantly), and after a day or so the gas stations ran out of fuel and they couldn't safely bring more in. A lot of people skeedaddled, but we stayed because our house is on the same street as the air attack base, and if they would protect any road, it would be that one. It was some nervous days, though... had everything packed and ready to load into the car and go at a moment's notice.
Even in the first couple of days, when the smoke swept across the sun, it nearly blotted it out. Later, when the winds died down, the sky was dark, dark brownish-grey, even in the middle of the day it was like twilight, and ash rained down for a week. I had to go out and work in that, with a wet bandana over my nose, and it was... freaky. And not very good for my lungs, what with all the chemicals and particulates in the air...
This was one of the times we went around town to scout out how close it was getting. This is a little hill a couple miles from our place. A lot of people were doing the same thing we were, and gathered to watch as fire devoured the hill in about 5 minutes. There was a guy whose house was at the bottom of the hill... he owned 3 old WWI tanks, and he managed to get one of them out on a flatbed semi before the fire got there.
This is one of the pics I took of the aftermath. This used to be a house... there were a lot of houses lost, some of them brand-spankin' new, some really lovely... and it was strange how one house would be absolutely demolished, and the one right next to it would be untouched.
Look really closely at this next picture... there is something very odd about it... O_o;;
The only good that I can see that came out of the fires was this... the sunsets were spectacular for a month afterward...
So, yeah. In the year after the fires we had enough rain that stuff grew back nicely... but it has been so dry since that it's all just fuel now. Everybody cross your fingers that we don't get hit again!