Fire Watch : Day 4 Update

 Another wild day. At night we can see a few flames

The fire increased from 2645 acres to 6390 overnight according to the Sunday morning report. By Sunday evening it had grown to 8971 acres with 0% containment and 245 crew members on site. 

Multiple aircraft were providing air support, but the increasing winds grounded them.

It's still a few miles from us, but we have to rely on phone alerts and neighboring ranching friends as it's impossible to gage what's taking place from our place. The canyons twist and turn and what the wind's doing here at the house is the complete opposite of how it's behaving in say, Copeland Canyon.

DH has been living on the skidsteer since we moved here. He's been trimming and cutting and grubbing trees and brush since day 1 and we did quite a bit more on Sunday. DH cut

and I hauled and stacked

And DH would scoop and dump

We were clearing a wider perimeter around the house.

I hated to lose so many trees, but it can't be helped when you live in the mountains and fire encroaches, you have to be practical.

Later, I soaked the wood supports and pillars on the deck. The rock is fine and the main part of the deck is composite.

Our son drove out about 9. The road between us and any town is closed so we didn't figure they'd let him through, but they did and we were very grateful for his help.

My knee was grateful too. I still hauled and stacked, but he moved twice as fast as I did. 

The other thing we're very grateful for is everyone's prayers...especially for the first responders on the front line. So thank you. The winds were not as wild as we were expecting, surprisingly we still have electricity, DH was able to get the horses out, and everyone is safe.

Today, higher winds are forecast, and we expect the fire to expand closer, but calmer weather is on the horizon. As tired as we are, I can't imagine how exhausted the folks on the front line are. They are all on the North end of the fire so I'm praying that means we're out of the woods for the moment, but we know it can change quickly.

The folks who have lived in this area all their lives and have experienced multiple fires say that the only thing that can put these fires out is rain and they will often burn for 30 days or more so here it is more about fire management than it is fire fighting. 

We'll continue to monitor the situation and are ready to pull out if conditions warrant we do so.

When I walked out on the deck first thing.in the morning, it certainly didn't look like fire was headed our way.

Fire Watch : Day 3

 We're still here. Not much we can do, but wait...and pray.

The fire was agressive today and expanded from the 577 acres Friday evening to 2,645 acres Saturday evening. 

Evacuation orders have been issued, but we're still here. Now, don't fuss. 😉 We're safe and we'll go when we need to. 

I've got all of our necessary documents in a Pelican box and packed my bible for if or when we need to go.

Packed a go bag, some photos, and 6 quilts. Neighboring ranchers have called and offered to keep our horses and we'll load up Skeet 

I took tubs to the garden last night and filled them with water so we'd hopefully be able to keep it watered if we lose our water (a good idea from DH)

It's just a matter of time before we lose our electricity. We've been planning on installing a generator, but there have been so many other projects to tackle. We had someone come out and assess what it would take, but we want to get a 2nd opinion.

I made 2 batches of granola bars 

And we mostly fielded lots of phone calls and visited with the Hotshot crews on the ground.

They brought in 3 different crews with 2 vehicles per unit and about 6 buggies and hand cleared a path through our property. 

I thought they may stay, but the fire's still west of us a few miles and they moved to moniter it from a closer position. This shot was taken by a reporter named Susan Perney- it showed up as part of an update on our fire app.

It's just a matter of time

They're forecasting high winds Sunday and Monday so we're holding our breath.

One of the Hotshots is from here. They specifically put him in place on this side of the mountain when a fire breaks out because he understands this terrain so well. He told us that this side of the Capitans is "a different animal"

Saturday evening was peaceful...almost eerie as we sat on the deck

Felt like we should be doing something

So I did...I prayed

And I want to thank all of you who have sent prayers - I can't tell you how much it means to us. It brings us peace to know that friends and family are standing in the gap and that this is all in God's hands.

Fire Update

 I may be posting about this for a while as the fire is 0% contained. You simply cannot extinguish it in this kind of mountainous country. The latest report as of last night was 577 acres. 

This was taken about 10 miles down the 2 lane paved road.

As I sit here for a moment on the deck, to type out this update, the smoke is strong and the sound of multiple chainsaws echo across the canyons, but the sky is still blue east of the fire.

DH and I made a trash run this afternoon as we have to haul all of our trash out to dumpsters about 3 miles away. I had broken down a ton of boxes and filled up the bed of the pickup. We live on a forest road and once you leave our property, it's just 1.5 miles to the pavement. We noticed 2 groups of vehicles parked off the forest road and stopped. They were hotshots. One contingent was from the local village (32 miles) and the other was from the Gila (the South part of the state). 

The fire still seemed to be quite a ways away so we thought it was odd that they would be set up so far east if it. But our road is the best road between the fire and they are being proactive. They have a better chance of fighting it if and when it comes down through these canyons.

On one hand, it's reassuring to know they have a plan and on the other hand, it's concerning that they think it may move this close.

We stopped at the neighbors (7 miles) when we saw him outside. He's been here a long time and has seen a lot of fires. The head of the incident management team stopped by and the 3 of them gathered over a map 

and made a plan.

On the way home, DH said, "Time to fire up the cookie factory!" 😂  It's what I do.

So a double batch of Cowboy Cookies, 2 batches of Granola Bars, and Peanut Butter cookies coming right up. 

I told our girl that my mind instantly began to calculate how long it would take me to make dozens of firefighter- worthy quilts, but I quickly decided that cookies and granola bars would just have to do. 😉

Oh, and if I can get to town, I'll bring back ingredients to make Buckaroo Bundles. Those are portable. But DH just came in (he met up with Dominic - the incident manager - to drive around in the buggy and give them some intel about the area, water sources, and trails) and he said there were over 20 people on each crew. Yikes! I may need to step up my game. 

Today I'll go out and help DH clear some more trees and brush. I can pray while I'm doing that.

A Little Bit of a Crazy Day

 DH and I had made plans to be away overnight tonight. We had planned to leave the house at 4 a.m. But Thursday morning we were awakened at 4 with a fire alert. We have an app on our phones that keeps us informed of fires. And it wasn't just a fire. A medi-vac plane had crashed into a mountain, just under 8 miles from us and 4 people were lost. Such a tragic accident. This is in a Wilderness area and it is wild and rough, making recovery and fire fighting efforts extremely challenging. There are no roads and only foot traffic is allowed. We could see the smoke from the deck Thursday morning.

By the time dusk had arrived, we could see the flames and the information we had indicated that the fire had grown from 35 acres to 150 acres. 

The winds picked up and gusted all night. There were 125 personel on site, but there wasn't anything that could be done overnight.

DH assured me it would take a few days for the fire to reach us, with the terrain being so rugged, if at all, but I just did not feel comfortable leaving our property. 

The fire began 8 miles from us and the winds were blowing it our direction. If evacuation orders were given, we had to be ready to load horses and Skeet, documents and leave out. 

Just the day before, one of our Jungle hens hatched 3 baby chicks

And Thursday evening Allie Oop gave birth to 5 kittens

DH has done a lot of clearing and just recently, including yesterday, he's been cutting trees and brush to build roads around the property for a fire line. The track came off the skidsteer and we cut some wood to wedge between the teeth

After a few attempts, he was back in business

All prayers are welcomed...for the families who are grieving their loved ones, for the safety of the first responders, and for the livestock and families in the line of the fire. 

Not much sleeping last night. 

No new information this morning, but it's just before 5.