Wildfire
Homer, Alaska
2:00 PM
67 degrees
37 per cent humidity
This is the weekend Alaska started to burn.
I had a premonition last night, watching the late news, when the five-day outlook showed clear, sunny skies with highs in the 60s-70s. As nice as the sunny weather is after our long winter, we could sure use some rain to speed green-up along.
This morning, when I stepped outside about nine, it was already sixty degrees under the overhang on the north side of the building and not a breath of air was moving. About ten or so, the Forestry department called to tell Denny there is a burn ban in effect (we have two burn permits) but we had already figured that today wasn't a good day for burning brush.
I had just started getting ready for work about twelve-thirty when I started hearing sirens. I went outside to see if I could tell what was going on. From the top of the hill behind the greenhouse, I could see a column of smoke directly east of us, and it looked pretty close. I jumped in my S10 and ran down to the highway, but before I got to the Sterling, I could see that the fire was in a grassy meadow on Thomas Road--the road that defines the back of our block. When I got back to the yard, I jumped out of the Chevy and told Denny that if I didn't have to go to work, I would grab a shovel and a chain saw and head over there. He said he'd go one better--he'd take the bulldozer.
It would have been difficult to go into work if Denny hadn't been home. All summer long I worry about wildfires, and to actually have one on our block and have to leave is hard.
Denny said the firefighters were at a loss as to what to do with him and the bulldozer at first, but once they got used to the idea, he was able to be helpful to them. He cut a perimeter down to bare earth around the burned area before the firefighters left and pointed out some smoke near the trees that the firefighters had missed. I am so glad they were able to stop the blaze before it got into the forest or the whole situation could have turned bad very fast.
When I got into work, PD said there were at least three fires going in our area--the one on Thomas Road (which was under control by the time I drove past again), one up the bay at Bear Cove, and a large one just north of Anchor Point--which is near where PD lives, so he was anxious to get home. To add a note of irony to the whole thing, today the State crew at the airport is holding a mock aircraft accident drill, complete with smoke bombs and fire engines. The local volunteer fire department, which was scheduled to participate in the drill, had to pull out due to actual fires.
They've put flight restrictions in effect around the Anchor Point fire and are bombing with retardant. The temperature jumped four degrees in the half-hour since I came into work. The only break we are getting from the weather is that the typical strong on-shore breeze that starts nearly every afternoon hasn't developed yet.
The mountains at the head of the bay are tinted orange from smoke... Since the whole State is under a high pressure dome, I can only imagine that fires will be starting up all over before the next weather system brings rain through.
2:00 PM
67 degrees
37 per cent humidity
This is the weekend Alaska started to burn.
I had a premonition last night, watching the late news, when the five-day outlook showed clear, sunny skies with highs in the 60s-70s. As nice as the sunny weather is after our long winter, we could sure use some rain to speed green-up along.
This morning, when I stepped outside about nine, it was already sixty degrees under the overhang on the north side of the building and not a breath of air was moving. About ten or so, the Forestry department called to tell Denny there is a burn ban in effect (we have two burn permits) but we had already figured that today wasn't a good day for burning brush.
I had just started getting ready for work about twelve-thirty when I started hearing sirens. I went outside to see if I could tell what was going on. From the top of the hill behind the greenhouse, I could see a column of smoke directly east of us, and it looked pretty close. I jumped in my S10 and ran down to the highway, but before I got to the Sterling, I could see that the fire was in a grassy meadow on Thomas Road--the road that defines the back of our block. When I got back to the yard, I jumped out of the Chevy and told Denny that if I didn't have to go to work, I would grab a shovel and a chain saw and head over there. He said he'd go one better--he'd take the bulldozer.
It would have been difficult to go into work if Denny hadn't been home. All summer long I worry about wildfires, and to actually have one on our block and have to leave is hard.
Denny said the firefighters were at a loss as to what to do with him and the bulldozer at first, but once they got used to the idea, he was able to be helpful to them. He cut a perimeter down to bare earth around the burned area before the firefighters left and pointed out some smoke near the trees that the firefighters had missed. I am so glad they were able to stop the blaze before it got into the forest or the whole situation could have turned bad very fast.
When I got into work, PD said there were at least three fires going in our area--the one on Thomas Road (which was under control by the time I drove past again), one up the bay at Bear Cove, and a large one just north of Anchor Point--which is near where PD lives, so he was anxious to get home. To add a note of irony to the whole thing, today the State crew at the airport is holding a mock aircraft accident drill, complete with smoke bombs and fire engines. The local volunteer fire department, which was scheduled to participate in the drill, had to pull out due to actual fires.
They've put flight restrictions in effect around the Anchor Point fire and are bombing with retardant. The temperature jumped four degrees in the half-hour since I came into work. The only break we are getting from the weather is that the typical strong on-shore breeze that starts nearly every afternoon hasn't developed yet.
The mountains at the head of the bay are tinted orange from smoke... Since the whole State is under a high pressure dome, I can only imagine that fires will be starting up all over before the next weather system brings rain through.
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