Wildfires
Yesterday, going to work the weather looked like the fog was burning off and it was going to be another nice day. I had a meeting in Rio Dell and during the drive over it started clouding up and just as I arrived it started sprinkling. Then during the meeting it started thundering and the rain came down in buckets. After about 30 minutes of that my fire department pager went off, announcing that there we were needed for some mutual aid in Honeydew. I got back to Ferndale to find a crew had been assembled. Today I got a wake up telephone call to see if I wanted to go out with the crew. We took Utility 7 out past Honeydew, expecting that we would be using the rig to pump water. Instead we found ourselves deployed on very steep hillsides using handtools to put out small fires or clear firelines to keep them from spreading. It was about 90 degrees out, and fortunately no wind other than what the fires generated on their own. Add to the ambient tempature the heat from the fire, and that you’re doing strenuous work while wearing Nomex pants and jacket, along with a helmet and gloves, and you have a recipe for sweat. It was interesting being up close and watching the fire behavior, but I definitely think I’ll stick to my day job. I took today’s picture as we were on our way back to Ferndale. You can see the fire we were working on in the right third of the picture. It was probably about 3/4 contained when we left. (Update; it rained on the 7th, and put out all of the fires.)