28 June …
Fire season is here and I know some of you will be concerned about us. So here’s a current report. I’ll try to indicate wind direction, fire spread direction, and distance from us. These will be quistemates from Forest Service reports as well as local re[poprts.
All local CDF (CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION) stations are on high alert.
Last week we had a series of rather strong storm fronts come through complete with heat and thunderstorms. Most of our storms come from the west and then up the canyon, but these went from northeast to southwest which felt strange.
There were several lightning caused fires around us, but none nearer than thirty miles and all headed away from us.
The closest fire is the Lavafire.
Sunday night it was at 220 acres. By noon today it was over 1,400 acres but headed northwest away from us toward the Lake Shastina subdivision which is under evacuation orders. It started with a downstrike which smoldered. If we were in the picture, we’d be way out of the frame on the right.
For those who don’t know, when a juniper or other tree gets hit by lightning (or fire), the tree can smolder above and below ground for days before rising above ground and becoming visible.
As of 8 this evening it has jumped Hwy 97 which is closed from Weed north to the Oregon border where they have fire concerns of their own.
This is in Hornbrook which is waaaaaay north of us, almost to the Oregon border, and in an area which burned over last year and so is not a high priority.
This is the Tennant fire also way north of us on the northwest side of the Mountain. It isn’t in a populated area however it was thought to be caused by a vehicle fire. It had jumped 97 going north west and so is waaaaaaay to the north of us.
A recent addition is way south down to the west of I-5 in the Crags … not near any residences and not vigorous.
This is just an example of a controlled burn that you have undoubtedly heard about. The firefighters purposely set the duff on fire while monitoring it closely. It is a way of constructing a fire break and very beneficial.
This is the kind of thing that really scares us. This is the remnants of a campfire constructed by someone probably from out of the area and left before it was completely out. You can see where it escaped from the fire circle.Fortunately it was found by a local and contained.
And this is an impression of the Paradise Fire which destroyed the entire town of Paradise last year (painted by one of my kids).
But we are okay. Thanks for your concerns and protective affirmations.
Further report in the weekly blog.
So ‘til then …