Today all of the fire crews were worried that we might have a repeat of
yesterday, but we managed to make it successfully through a very difficult
day. Every time I saw smoke on our ridge or coming over the top, it seemed
like there were two helicopters or ground crews on it before I turned
around. The Office of Emergency Services got their big street-designed fire
engines into our hillsides like ATV's. Dozers came back and cut a path to a
spot above our lower cabin (still in the "black") where the helicopters
couldn't seem to put the fire out. I could hear chainsaws all day on the
hillside as they cleared dangerous trees.
We have survived another very hot, low humidity day without the fire making
it across the break. For two days Mother Nature has not cooperated, and
still they have been able to keep this now angry fire back. It is partly due
to their fast and hard work now, but also a direct result of the preparation
they did beginning just after the fire started. Everywhere you look, the
strategy they took to cut the fire off has worked. I could wax poetic about
all the ways their work helped from removing fuel to enabling access to...,
but enough said. We have been very fortunate in our crew!
More hot, dry weather coming, and we have to be prepared for the same risks
tomorrow that we faced today.
I plan on keeping our car loaded for a quick exit, but so far so good.
Rod
P.S.
A good article and video in the Santa Rosa paper today about the
Orr/Montgomery Woods fire. The reporter, photographer, and cameraman were at
Brian Kornegay's morning briefing in the Montgomery Woods Grove yesterday
and I brought them up to the Durfee's driveway for their helicopter photos.
Here is the article:
le=Coping_on_the_fire_line
and the accompanying video:
d1655754334
I loved the analogy to the movie Groundhog Day. It is exactly how I feel -
every day the alarm goes off and we start reliving the same day one more
time.
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