My heart is broken: more firefighters lost

After three firefighters in Washington were lost this week, thirteen firefighters this fire year have lost their lives working to save the rest of us and our homes and property.

It is heartbreaking.

The men and women who work wildfires are beyond heroic. It is a calling that requires a unique set of physical and emotional capabilities beyond what I can imagine.

I am heartbroken for the lives of the lost and their families.

Conditions, currently are horrible: scary, SCARY, dry ground and fuel along with heat, low humidity and wind.

Smoke: I have no breathing issues, but the amount of smoke has me wheezing and sneezing so I have to wonder about those that DO have issues.

My prayers go out for the West: first for the firefighters and all of their support, for those who have health issues, for the wildlife and the pets and livestock, for those who DO have breathing issues, for those who have to make decisions… for the West.

Almost 30,000 firefighters from all over the country are battling about 100 wildfires that have broken out across the West. The flames have torched more than 1 million acres of land.

So many firefighters are needed that more are flying in all the way from New Zealand and Australia this weekend, authorities told NBC News.

Final details were still being worked out, but the contingent from Australia and New Zealand was expected to arrive in Boise, Idaho, on Sunday. Boise is the headquarters of the Western regional headquarters of the Forest Service’s National Interagency Fire Center.

Mike Ferris, a spokesman for the fire center, told NBC News that the fire personnel — whom he described as fire managers, not front-line firefighters — will undergo two days of training on U.S. firefighting procedures next week before being deployed as needed.

“We currently remain at National Preparedness Level 5 [the highest level], our resources are fully committed and there are no season-ending weather events in the foreseeable forecast,” said Aitor Bidaburu, head of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, which manages cooperation among fire operations from the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies.

The above says “100 wildfires that have broken out across the West”. I think that number is understated.

Whatever, my utmost prayer is that no more lives be lost. The stuff, the houses, the buildings…inconsequential and replaceable. It is the Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, the Animals – THEY are the important things…

It’s my birthday! … it WAS my birthday

I’d really like to write a post every day – for me…because I enjoy it and because it is nice to look back sometimes. I started this post on Sunday…on my birthday…but this and that and now it is Tuesday evening.

And although I don’t like or want a party or presents or fuss, I DO enjoy celebrating my birthday. I mean, a birthday, means another year of life. Maybe when I get to the “other” side, I will wonder why I wanted to hang on “here”, but here is what I know and so I am always grateful to be here another year.

This year…well, I am VERY grateful that it cooled in time for my birthday…

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
1230 PM MDT SUN AUG 16 2015

.DISCUSSION…Cool nights and breezy mild afternoons are the rule
this week as we continue to be affected by polar maritime cold
fronts while the higher latitides pattern starts to look more
like early fall. Temperatures will generally be near normal
through Thursday. Concerns for fires the next few days are from
lightning chances near the Canadian border to along the divide
Monday as well as winds in the afternoon for midweek through
Friday. A decent precipitation event for the Glacier Park area is
possible Friday with a stronger cold front. Morning temperatures
could also be quite chilly this weekend area-wide with patchy
frost possible.

However, it remained VERY smoky and between the smoke and the dust and the early dropping pine needles…my ears-nose-throat are complaining. And my eyes are puffy in the morning. And there is not much relief in sight. But it is cool and that, I am VERY grateful for!

I’m also grateful that I was able to spend my birthday with my best boys:

Smoky birthday morning. But a morning with Bear and Auggie and a cup of coffee on Beardog Point.

It WAS my birthday and it WAS a wonderful day!

We’re smokin’

The good news is that the forecast cool front whooshed through with less extreme lighting, wind and hail than forecast.

The bad news is that even with the less extreme, there were something like 30 new fire starts. BUT, the big fires were not impacted by wind and did not jump fire lines.

Still.

Given that there are large fires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Canada… we are smokin’

It smells like a very bad, very stale cigar…

At least it is cool…cooler.

And despite the smell and the anxiety that smoky conditions create…

It is beautiful in an eerie sort of way.

The light, filtered through smoky skies, is unique.

Meanwhile… in this cool break we are regrouping…

One of my fans…it had a creepy amount of dust and hair on and in it. I spritzed it with a vinegar-water mix and then hosed it off. It is drying and hopefully I did not kill the motor with water, etc.

Onward to some catching up.

I’ve had Windows 10 on 2 devices for a bit over 2 weeks. No glitches on either device and no issues with Windows 10. I continue to LOVE it. As I’ve read comments from those who do have issues, the thing that springs to mind is “gamers” and those with older devices/drivers. I don’t have much in the way of oddity other than my work environment. And even though my work environment is mostly Microsoft, it is not 100% Microsoft (DevExpress tools) and believe it or not…Microsoft stuff does NOT always play nice with other Microsoft stuff but currently, it all does.

Whatever, I continue to be VERY Happy with Windows 10.

A kind of silly thing I love in Windows 10 is the Weather app. It does not have some of the detail that I go to in NOAA, but it is a wonderfully complete and easy to “read” picture of current weather… including sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset…

And historical info.

I am in Weather info heaven!

We be smokin’

Dark and Stormy

This morning…after a night that didn’t cool to 70F until 4:00 a.m. – the sky darkened, thunder roared and a whoosh of wind preceded a morning storm.

No rain, but dark skies and the cool wind made me give in to sitting in the kitchen with one more cup of coffee than usual and just enjoying the dark and stormy morning.

Birthday week heat, etc.

Good grief … Again!!

Really ???

This is the fifth round of upper 90’s and I’ve had it! I had been patting myself on the back for being less whiny about summer heat…even given the unusual heat this summer…until last week when we had round four of upper 90’s PLUS smoke.

But, then it cooled. And really, even though we’ve had the unusual upper 90 boughts of heat, they have pretty much been short-lived with “an end in sight”.

The kicker is the ultra-ULTRA-dry conditions and worry about fire.

The heat, last week’s smoke, the dry and the worry … energy zapping.

So.

Birthday week started with a forecast that I wanted to ignore. On the plus side, Monday and today (Tuesday) did not reach the forecast high.

On the downside, last night the forecast “rain” did not happen, but thunder and lightning did happen and a fire started about 10 miles away … as the crow flies:

The forest folks jumped on this early and according to “breaking news”, the road that was closed has been opened so I think there is containment. All in all, considering the extreme conditions, we are so far very fortunate thanks to our DNRC and Flathead National Forest and many fire districts. ***see updated edit at end of the post.

And see the weather forecast way above…we are to cool dramatically on Friday and next week stay cool and hopefully get some rain.

Meanwhile.

This is usually not good news.

When the cat spends an hour focused under the oven that usually means there is some critter back there…

But, on Monday morning, a critter under the oven that kept Auggie happily inside…it was good news!

It was good news, because about 7:45, when Auggie normally would have been out and about…there was the unmistakable smell of skunk. Not sure who was the recipient as I had all windows open and none of us alarmed or heard any confrontation in the vicinity.

The important thing, though, is that it was not Auggie or Bear … HOO RAH!

Later in the day, neighbor Mel brought me huckleberries to be turned into huckleberry ice cream. She also brought me two dozen gorgeous fresh eggs from her chickens. Another HOO RAH! The eggs from Mel’s chickens are out of this world good!

I made the ice cream, but also reserved 3 big spoonfuls of the huckleberry puree to mix with my fresh lemonade mix. YUM! Huckleberry-Lemonade is an awesome “beat the heat” thirst quencher. A good trade.

Bear has the right idea for Birthday Week Heat!

***Edit 8/12/2015 a.m. Although there was a small fire that was quickly contained in Jewell Basin, the great plume of smoke is actually from a Glacier National Park Fire (Thompson Lake area) that blew up with yesterday’s heat and wind.