July 1st was like any other Sunday. Church, lunch at the park, and saying goodbye to Bill who had visited for the weekend. We were preparing to leave for Utah/Idaho in a few days. Rain Clouds rolled in a it looked like we were going to get a few sprinkles. Well and few sprinkles and ALOT of lightning. About 20 minutes later we hear Pam on the CB radio calling for Merel. Pam is never on the radio. I told Daniel to call her on the phone and see what was wrong. She said Merel left 20 mins earlier to track what he thought was smoke. Daniel decided he'd go put the water tank/pump on his truck just in case. Before he'd gotten out the door, Pam was back on the radio. Fire on the South end and it was burning fast.
I ran out to help Daniel get it all together, luckily earlier in the week he'd changed the oil and made sure it worked, since the previous 2 summers it just sat in the barn. I ran back to the house to tell our intern Dennis he was needed and a matter of 5 minutes Cinch was screaming because he wanted to go and Daniel was off to fight fire.
The next few hours and into the night are blur. Listening on the CB radio what was going on, playing command central to our general manager and foreman who were in phone service and not to radio service yet.
Needless to say the fire started about 5pm and burned to 3:30am. It burned about 7,000 acres on us and about the same on the Rush Creek Ranch, totaling just under 14,000 acres.
It was a restless night. Cinch and I slept on the couch so I could listen on the radio and track on the map where it had burned and was moving too.
Daniel got home at 5:30am, showered slept for an hour and left at 7 to go check for hot spots. Came home around noon- ate lunch and was about to lay down for a nap, when another spot flared up. We went with him to see the burn and keep him awake.
It was sure a eye opening experience to make sure we are ready to leave at any moment- and know in my head what I need to grab.
Through out July and August Daniel fought 2 more fires on our unit, 1 on the refuge. And ranch wide there were 4 others.
When there was a chance of rain in the forecast it turned in to "chance of fire"
Needless to say with no rain, lost of lighting and 23 more days over 100* more than normal this summer. We are a D4 Drought.
*The hot spot that flared that we were able to go see, crazy it fared up with this little green through it and in a meadow but it was a hot and dry day.
See all the hills that go on and on of black.
1 comment:
Oh my goodness! I'm a little behind and just read this post, I'm so sorry and so grateful that you are all safe. We had a fire pretty close at the same time. When we went to the hospital for Robby to be born we had to use the wipers to clear the ash and it was falling like snow and smelled awful! I hope that you are having cooler weather and a better fall. Know I'm thinking of you & miss you!
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