Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Forest Fire...

6:10 am - 62 degrees - hazy...

The smell of smoke is thick in the air this morning.

As of 6 PM last night (the latest official update), the forest fire is burning in steep terrain in a remote area about 5 miles east of us and had blackened 45 acres.  The fire is neither contained nor controlled, but well-staffed considering how very stressed the areas resources are right now. Last night they had two helicopters working the fire along with 20 firefighting crews, four engines and three water tenders.  They had also started back burning certain areas.

We are hope they get some sort of handle on the fire today before the strong east winds start up later today and blow the fire even closer.

(photo source: Kris Leonard)
This was taken early mid day around the time the fire was first reported. 

This is unconfirmed, but it's from fairly reliable sources... The fire was started by a campfire.  Then a second fire was started when one of the first responders unattended truck (believed to be DNR truck) somehow rolled off an embankment.

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Update - 4:26 pm - 90 degrees - hazy and smokey...

The fire has now burned approximately 60 acres with zero containment.  There are about 90 people working on this fire with the help of two helicopters, two bulldozers and a feller-buncher.  A brush rig and water tender have also been on scene due to the remote location.  Firefighting crews are expected to continue fighting the fire throughout this week.

(photo source: katu.com)

The fire is 5.4 miles East of us.