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.