Running Springs Update from late last night

Hi again, Sorry I didn't manage to get an afternoon update out. It was frustrating that without a new map I couldn't get a good sense of the fire, and when I couldn't find anyone with a map, the strangest thing happened: I fell asleep for a couple hours in the middle of the afternoon. Can't figure out why :-).
Today ended the same as it began. Lots of activity on the defense line for the fire at the back of the ranch while the fire continued to make its way toward that line. The Orr Series/Montgomery Woods fire is now over 3,000 acres, and it is still growing dangerously, but it's growth has slowed thanks to cooler, foggier weather and less wind. It is amazing how the circumstances of fires seem more dependent on weather and less on what you do or plan to do.
I have updated the website ( www.glenmaple.com/fire ) with new maps of where the fire is and some new pictures taken by Jimmy Booth.
Just to keep it interesting, tonight they discussed doing the controlled burn on our place again, but thanks to the road they cut along the ridge, it was easy to go see that the fire was not coming up the hillside on the other side, so they put it off again until at least tomorrow.
They cut back to a very small crew tonight, letting some exhausted and overworked firefighters get a real meal and maybe even some sleep. It is amazing how hard these crews work when they need to!
The smoke cleared briefly this afternoon, so Shirlie opened up the house and let in some of the cool evening air. It was delicious for about 2 hours, and then we were back to living in someone's fireplace, so we closed up and turned on the fan/filter again. The fresh air blowing through the house was a fond remembrance of a time that seems awfully long ago.
Yours, Rod
P.S. Our happy announcement that we had a working phnoe line was premature. It worked for 14 hours and then cut out again. We don't know where the problem is, but maybe I will have time to try to find it tomorrow. In the meantime we are back to email and voicemail only.