Forest Fire!

We rose early (for a weekend) to beat the heat and spent our Sunday morning catching up on yard work after 8 days away on vacation. Mike mowed the lawn and I freed the garden from weeds.  The garden is on the south side of the house so I didn't get a view to the North until I finished and went inside. When I did, I was greeted by this view:

Sunday, 11:23

My first thought was that someone was burning but then remembered that the county burn ban was in effect.  And then of course decided there was too much smoke for a home burn pile anyway and therefore this must be a forest fire.  I called 911 to report the fire (just in case no one had yet) and was informed that DNR had been fighting a fire on Mt. Adams since early in the morning.  I know that the peak of Mt. Adams is 15 miles from our house and therefore estimated that the fire was ~10 miles from our house.

The fire grew quickly over the next hour and soon a fire fighting helicopter flew over our house.  By noon, we could see flames.  By 1 PM, the fire was creating its own cumulus cloud.

Sunday, 11:34

Sunday, 11:50

Sunday, 11:56

Sunday, 11:57

Sunday, 12:00 (flames!)

Sunday, ~13:00

Sunday, ~14:30

Sunday, ~15:00

Our friends Andrew & Amy called to ask about the fire so I emailed them some photos.  Andrew loves fires and couldn't resist the helicopter photos.  So he took his family for a Sunday drive on the forest roads of Trout Lake until they were turned back by a forest ranger.

The forest ranger provided the first real fire information of the day.  The fires was started by a lightning strike way back on June 29th!  Mom and I had watched that lightning storm and saw some serious strikes hit what appeared to be the same area where the fire started.  Apparently, it had just smoldered for two weeks!  That area has a lot of dead and diseased trees (spruce budworm) and is fueling the fire.

Mike and I took a drive to the Trout Lake School in the evening for a better view.

Sunday, 17:50 (view from Trout Lake School)

The pregnant photographer reflected in Mike's glasses

Sunday, 20:48

Sunday, 21:43

By evening, information on the fire was posted online.  The fire is named Cold Springs and occupied 500 acres on its first day. I made a mental list of the things I would evacuate with if needed but took comfort in the fact that the fire was North of us and the wind was from the west (as is typical for this time of year).

- Corinne (& Mike)