It was a rude awakening back into the heat of the valley
after spending 4 days on the coast which is probably around 80 miles away as the crow flies. Yesterday morning on the coast we felt like we needed hats & gloves walking the beach, it was in the 60's but there was a very strong wind coming in off the ocean...........fast forward to yesterday afternoon pulling in the driveway here at home where it was 104 degrees - yes, a 40 degree difference.
We came home to learn about two forest fires - the Red Dog Fire is in our area, not real close to us, and not even threatening homes......it hasn't grown much since Saturday so hopefully it will not become an issue for anyone - it was started by lightening a few weeks ago, one of those sleeper strikes that pops up later. There's another fire around 45 minutes NE of us that's more active, I don't think any homes are in danger there, hope it stays that way.
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| Red Dog Fire |
Another rude awakening around 1am to the sound of thunder and flash of lightening. I grew up on the east coast where it was the norm in the heat of summer but those storms were also accompanied by rain - here it's dry lightening that starts fires rather than drenching us. The spotter planes will be flying looking for smoke plumes. Bailey is usually ok with loud noises but not last night so I had a 90 pound dog laying on top of me in the middle of the night, then the storm moved on a bit, he got down because he was hot......but around 4am the lightening/thunder came over us again and Bailey was back up on top of me. Neither of us got much sleep last night....all that kept running through my head is that I need to get this year's fire escape plan together, pull out the backpack for throwing the most important 'stuff' in, some big plastic bins for other stuff if there's time to pack it.....time for Sam to put the 5th wheel hitch back in the truck bed, the 5th wheel is a small, very small with a 90 pound dog, portable home that will carry a lot of 'stuff'. I almost feel like before there are even fires real close to us that we should go ahead and put the sprinklers on the roof, then all I have to do is hook up the hoses and we're good to go.......as long as there's power to run the well pump, it's unsightly but our place can't be seen from the road so who cares. It's going to be a long fire season...........
We are hot and dry up here too and so I understand your need to be prepared. We have already a lightning strike fire just north of us that took 5 fire departments, 8 hours to get out with helicopter support. This past Saturday night our immediate neighbour lit a fire in his (legal) fire pit but 3 fire trucks descended on his home and hosed it out within 15 mins! We were very thankful and he was sternly spoken to... They say its going to be a very long and hot summer for the entire Pacific Northwest.... be safe!
ReplyDeleteYes, Susan, I've heard Canada is in drought and it will be a tough summer fire wise up there too. Noon news report is that there are already 13 new fires started overnight, they're out looking for more, copters have been flying overhead as well as spotter planes. Hopefully since these are all small at this point. they'll catch them all early. More lightening forecast for later today and tomorrow - ack.
ReplyDeleteAll those folks to the east just didn't want to share that snow this winter and the flooding rains they've been experiencing.
The forest fires are so scary especially with your dry conditions. I can't imagine having to be prepared to run if they come close. We will in the woods but everything is lush and green here. We would gladly share our almost daily rain showers if we could!
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