Around 12:30 yesterday afternoon I received an email from Andy:
There is a fire to the west. If I see flames I plan to leave just to be safe.
Beate also wrote from work and kept me informed about the fire. I tried texting and emailing Andy, but he didn’t get my text until about 3:50, when he had just logged on to tell me he was coming home:
Just got your text at the same time I was logging on here and reading the messages. Fire is a long way from here and there is minimum wind and vegetation is still slightly moist. We should be concerned but not worried….
Beate and Tim work down here but drove up to bring Audrey, their cat, down here to spend the night with them at some friends.
During the trip they took this picture of our house:
Thanks, Beate and Tim!
It was a long worrisome day for them, and also for the 200 or so people who had to be evacuated as a precaution. As of early evening 600 acres had burned, and the fire had been 0% contained. According to this article the fire is partially surrounded by burn scars from previous fires (including our Las Conchas fire), which should help contain it. And even though the weather is hot and dry, the winds are light, which is a blessing.
Fingers crossed that the firefighters can save people’s homes and get the fire under control soon.
Fingers, toes, and paws crossed and prayers that all remain safe.
Yes!
ooooooooooooooh noooooooooooooooooo – keep safe both you and Andy and Tim & Beate (and Audrey)…
Thanks!
My best wishes to you and your friends that your properties there are safe and that the fire is contained quickly.
Thank you. 🙂
oh my dearest monk and andy and tim and beate and little audrey!
and the other folks we don’t even know… only one word…
ENOUGH! no more fires! that poor mountain range has had enough.
and yet …
can’t help thinking how beautiful the picture is that beate took of the little cabin homestead! even with all the savagery of the last fire. it still makes your heart leap. I see why andy loves it so.
I love that picture too. I reminds me of the picture of the shed sitting all alone just before the house was built. Grit is the word that comes to mind.
Unfortunately there will probably be more problems because they were suppressed for so long that the forests are overcrowded and burn too intensely when a fire does come. Fires were a natural part of the ecosystem before humans came along. The Forest Service is trying to do forest thinning and controlled burns to help.
Very reassuring, that photo of your house, protected I suppose and hope by burn scars from that earlier fire. My heart leapt oh oh! when I first signed on. Keep safe!
Thank you!
A bit scary. I hope they get the fire under control quickly.
They’re focusing on saving the houses first. And the people, of course, which is why they told people to evacuate just in case.