Wow! Look at these two - mowing my yard in the dark. Are they just dedicated to my happiness? Or was there something bigger going on at our house while the children were sleeping? :)
A few weeks ago, our 10 percent chance of thunderstorms brought a wicked lightning storm that started multiple fires in our area. One was a few miles from our house - maybe 4 miles away when it started.
We had two helicopters with water buckets, some fixed wing planes with fire retardent, and some fire crews here the second day.
They fought it all day, but couldn't quite get ahead of it. It really wasn't windy that day either, just so dry.
It was impressive when they would drop the retardant on the fire. I was calmly taking pictures at this point because it was a few miles from the house and burning the other way. The fire crews went home for the night with plans to come back the next day to finish. Everyone thought it would calm down as it cooled off at night and it wouldn't go far. We came in to eat supper and when we were finished, went to check on the fire.
Here is what we saw...the wind was blowing now - and bringing the fire right toward our house! Rapidly! Our boss was here and in a jiffy he was back on the phone with the fire crew to get them back out here. Since it was threatening a structure (our house - yikes!) we had several firetrucks, some cats, a dozer, and some hot shot crews all show up. They were making plans to spray the south end of the house and we were packing up some things in case we needed to leave. Keith was out here and he and Morgan were busy! Getting horses in, mowing around the diesel tank by flashlight, Keith was even readyto hotwire a cat and scrape around the house - but then the firecrew showed up. Here are some pictures I took from my yard.
The above picture is as it was coming toward our house - those trees are in my yard. It appears closer in the dark than it really is, I found out the next morning. :) The fire was about 3/4 of a mile from our house at this point. It didn't come much closer because the wind changed. Luckily. :)
These last three are all as it was burning away from the house. Burning up lots of brush!
Now it is out, life is back to normal, and we're glad it was just a "close call". :)
Wow! Look at these two - mowing my yard in the dark. Are they just dedicated to my happiness? Or was there something bigger going on at our house while the children were sleeping? :)
A few weeks ago, our 10 percent chance of thunderstorms brought a wicked lightning storm that started multiple fires in our area. One was a few miles from our house - maybe 4 miles away when it started.
We had two helicopters with water buckets, some fixed wing planes with fire retardent, and some fire crews here the second day.
They fought it all day, but couldn't quite get ahead of it. It really wasn't windy that day either, just so dry.
It was impressive when they would drop the retardant on the fire. I was calmly taking pictures at this point because it was a few miles from the house and burning the other way. The fire crews went home for the night with plans to come back the next day to finish. Everyone thought it would calm down as it cooled off at night and it wouldn't go far. We came in to eat supper and when we were finished, went to check on the fire.
Here is what we saw...the wind was blowing now - and bringing the fire right toward our house! Rapidly! Our boss was here and in a jiffy he was back on the phone with the fire crew to get them back out here. Since it was threatening a structure (our house - yikes!) we had several firetrucks, some cats, a dozer, and some hot shot crews all show up. They were making plans to spray the south end of the house and we were packing up some things in case we needed to leave. Keith was out here and he and Morgan were busy! Getting horses in, mowing around the diesel tank by flashlight, Keith was even readyto hotwire a cat and scrape around the house - but then the firecrew showed up. Here are some pictures I took from my yard.
The above picture is as it was coming toward our house - those trees are in my yard. It appears closer in the dark than it really is, I found out the next morning. :) The fire was about 3/4 of a mile from our house at this point. It didn't come much closer because the wind changed. Luckily. :)
These last three are all as it was burning away from the house. Burning up lots of brush!
Now it is out, life is back to normal, and we're glad it was just a "close call". :)
7 comments:
Scary, eh? Doris
ONLY 3/4 of a mile away? Yeah...that's still too close for comfort! I'm glad that all turned out okay!
YIKES! I am glad your place is okay. That is definitely too close. Thanks for sharing the pictures. The night time ones are amazing. We miss you guys!
Thanks for [finally] posting these pics! :-) All I can say is... wow! Too close for comfort. Yikes. Love, Susie
Hey M & M!
Susie put us on to your blog and I've been waiting to see these pictures of the fire! Wow - that was tooooo close for comfort! So glad the wind shifted! Take care - hugs to the kiddies for us! We'll make it out there some day - for sure!
Our love,
Russ and Judy
Wow! Those are some fire pictures. I'm glad the wind changed directions for you. That was a nerve racking night. Linda
Ok, enough fires for this family, this year!
Glad the wind shifted and that everyone is OK!!! Bet the kids were excited by all the happenings though.
Love ya,
Vicki
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