Somethin's burnin'

Where we used to live, until about three years ago, I never could see a reason to have a 72 hour kit.  (I know, I know.  Raised eyebrows.  Shocked faces.  Gasps.)  A better idea, in my opinion, would be to keep a few necessary items at one of our kids' homes, who lived nearby.  Everything else we might need was available at any number of local shops, grocery stores, or pharmacies.  In our Former Life, the only realistic disaster was maybe a house fire or ...... hmmmm.  Flood?  No.  Nuclear attack?  Pshaw.  We never did get around to leaving anything at anyone's house, nonetheless, the intent was there.  And (a very pertinent point) it rained a lot where we used to live.  I'll explain why I bring this up.  

We now live in the desert where it's very dry 3-4 months of the year.  Every year, the news ominously reports, is drier than the last, not to mention this heat wave from you-know-where.  Wild fires can spring up in an instant, especially in remote areas.  So a single lighted match or cigarette causes great consternation.  We are shamed into keeping our trees trimmed up and brush cleared with frequent reminders of potential calamity should we fail to comply.   Thunderstorms, unless accompanied by a fair amount of rain, are no longer innocent summer entertainment.  July 4th fireworks bring a lot of angst.  Alerts pop up on my phone with evacuation updates.

It's a different world over here.  (I fantasize about lawn sprinklers mounted on our roof.  Couldn't hurt, right?)  To put it briefly, I miss the rain.  

About ten days ago as we were driving back from town, we saw a mega plume of smoke coming from what looked like the area where we live.  (Fortunately it wasn't, although it WAS less than seven miles away and moving closer.)  

For the next couple of days, our local Facebook group was abuzz and cars were gathering along roads where there were viewpoints.  Husband and I sat on our patio and watched the fire-fighting planes flying to dump their load of red retardant then back to the local airport to refill.  

A helicopter heading back to refill the bag at the end of the cable with (we assume) water.

They named it the Grandview Fire.  Husband took the above two photos.  He sent them to a couple of local news stations and they were shown on TV.  

Our mountain view disappeared into the smokey haze ... which happens regularly here in the summer.  But by the third day, the haze disappeared and we began to read news reports that, thankfully, the level of containment was growing and the fire had topped out at just over 6,000 acres. The firemen were winning.  (No homes were lost.)

We live on a 10,000+ acre peninsula of land, surrounded on the west, north, and east by vast canyons with rivers running along the base of each.  I've come to really appreciate these natural firebreaks and this latest fire was on the other side of one of those canyons.  I also appreciate that our local fire department has never lost one house in our community to a wild fire .... thus far.   About twelve years ago, there was a wild fire close to where our home now sits, in fact there are a few charred stumps remaining on our property.  Someone apparently had lost control of their burn pile.  One neighbor said she saw an ember float up into a nearby tree which then erupted like a torch.   This fire burned about ten acres and, as the neighbors tell it, the firemen camped close by for a week, just to be sure it was out.  It burned mostly public land where, years later, it still looks ugly and scarred because no one is allowed to cut down the dead trees ..... (a moment to pause and, yet again, wonder about government bureaucrats).

So I now have a plan.  If we ever have to evacuate, Husband and I will each drive one of our cars, and I have a list of items that will go into each vehicle.  Instead of 72 hour kits, we have a 72+++ hour van that already contains a majority of the stuff we might need.  I also ..... get this(!) ..... organized (mostly) our 45-year-old monster nest of random family photos into albums.  Yes, it's true.  I'm awarding myself Big Points for this latest project that I completed a few days ago, because it's been nagging me for years.  (So, to my posterity, next time you come to visit, you will find all the albums in the den, awaiting your viewing pleasure.)  And rest assured, said albums are on the evacuation list.  I just hope we never have to use it.