Spring is windy season in Wyoming. For days Jack has been doing his best Harve Presnell impression, walking around the house singing "They Called The Wind Mariah."
Yesterday he had to take his act on the road when the wind helped fan some spark and began blackening a stretch of sage between us and the highway. We don't know for sure, but assume a cigarette butt was the culprit.
Luckily, our house sits over a third of a mile from the road, so we weren't in any real danger. Especially because Ms. Mariah decided about then to have a nice rest.
A lady passing by on the highway called in the fire and Jack and Colonel went at it with shovels.
Before I made it even halfway down the driveway (with extra camera batteries in my pocket) I saw this:
The firemen were amazing. So fast! I come from a long line of firemen so I realize the sacrifice and commitment they and their families make. It was strange, though, to be on the receiving end. They are the line between us and destruction.
Colonel was still going at it when they arrived:
Traffic slowed a bit for a few minutes, but they made quick work of the smoldering flames. Which was very, very good since on my way back to the house the wind came up and was so fierce I had to wear two hoods to keep it from coming in one ear and going out the other.
All in all, we are very grateful for the wind stopping, for the lady who called the fire department, for Colonel and his shovel and most of all for our unknown neighbors who gave their Sunday afternoon up to save our fields.
Yesterday he had to take his act on the road when the wind helped fan some spark and began blackening a stretch of sage between us and the highway. We don't know for sure, but assume a cigarette butt was the culprit.
Luckily, our house sits over a third of a mile from the road, so we weren't in any real danger. Especially because Ms. Mariah decided about then to have a nice rest.
A lady passing by on the highway called in the fire and Jack and Colonel went at it with shovels.
Colonel was still going at it when they arrived:
4 comments:
Sit, Mariah, yes. But bring on Tess! And beat the living daylights out of Joe with a shovel.
So glad the woman called it in.... and that Jack and Colonel were there to get right to it. I loved seeing the firetruck. You could just sense the feeling of impending safety and help-arriving in your photograph. I plan to talk about our 'volunteer' fire dept. here in one of my NE posts... is your dept. volunteer or perhaps Forest service?
I just love visiting your life in Wyoming. We have always loved 'road trips' across the country. I spend hours on end thinking about some sweet home we pass and trying to imagine what it would be like to get to live there, and your blog allows me to now "know", so thank you! I've been sharing posts with Dan (just introduced him to Colonel;) and he loves them too!
joan
(we are expecting a foot of snow tomorrow:( I'm so done with snow for the year;)
I'm glad that the fire department responded so quickly! Grass fires can get out of control before you even know it. Chris and his coworkers are sometimes called in by the local "city" fire departments in cases of grass fires (he and his coworkers get the same training that the Forest Service workers get out by you), because the city departments aren't really trained for grass fires. Grass fires are obviously much different to deal with than structure fires.
While I do love to watch a well-controlled prescribed burn, an out of control grass fire is one of my biggest nightmares! A few years ago at work, I watched a grass fire consume an 80-acre cornfield in a matter of minutes. It spread so quickly that I was almost ordered to track my bulldozer right across the highway to start cutting a firebreak around an elementary school. Very scary.
Wow scary!
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