Fire, Fire Everywhere

Sorry for the long gap between blog posts; there’s been some things going on and haven’t been able do much in the past couple weeks, but we are back on it now.
Been doing a little traveling around the western United States, the one thing that seems to be everywhere is fire. A long, wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer has made conditions perfect for wildfires. The Pacific Northwest, California and especially Texas have been on fire for weeks.
Here near the homestead in Hood River, OR, we’ve had the Dollar Lake fire. Started by lightning in a remote part of Mt. Hood, high winds, hot weather and difficult access has made this fire hard to control and kept it burning for weeks.

Dollar Lake Fire 8-29-11

The Dollar Lake fire has been burning day and night since August 26, 2011

Dollar Lake Fire Sunset 8-29-11

I traveled to Austin, TX to visit a friend and wound up in the middle of a terrible run of wildfires that has destroyed more than a thousand homes, burned thousands of acres and killed at least four people. In a prolonged drought and no rain in sight, Texas is in a dangerous position.
My friend lives in Leander, TX, outside of Austin. On September 5, Labor Day weekend, a fire started about a mile or so from her house. It looked like it was under control, but because of strong winds, kept flaring up and headed towards her neighborhood.

Leander, TX Fire 9-5-11

Local firefighters were pushed to the limit trying to contain the fast moving fire

Leander Fire 9-5-11

Soon, the fire was literally across the road from the Mason Creek neighborhood and the seriousness of the situation really set in. Police and fire personnel came through the neighborhood telling everyone to evacuate their homes.

Mason Creek 9-5-11

My friend and I wandered around the edges of the evacuation area with friends and eventually wound up spending the night at a local hotel. Thankfully, my friend’s home as well as those of her neighbors were spared, many other Texans have not been so fortunate.
When I arrived back in the Pacific Northwest, there were fires burning all over the place. Flying into Portland at night, we flew over the Goldendale fire in southwest Washington. Pretty spectacular to see from that altitude. Back in Hood River, the Dollar Lake fire was still burning, filling the Hood River Valley with smoke and completely obscuring 11,249 foot Mt. Hood.

Smoky Hood River Valley 9-12-11

The smoke from the fire could be seen and smelled all through the Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Signs like this have a lot more meaning now

Fire Warning 9-12-11

As of last evening and this morning, it is much cooler, which seems to have helped the firefighters in gaining control of the fire.

Mt. Hood 9-14-11

It is supposed to be windy for the next few days, hopefully that will not get the fire going again. Until it rains, it seems fire will be a fact of life here in the west.

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