Thursday, October 4, 2012

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Throat

Minnesota has a number of wild fires burning.  Three areas North of us are or have been burning.

Smoky Hills

The Smoky Hills are real smoky.  Wednesday afternoon the smoke moved in.  The wind was coming from the north.

Smoky afternoon at the old farm

It smells like a wild fire..wood and grass burning..it has a certain smell.

The good news or bad news is that we are in a winter storm watch all day on Thursday.  Duh..I think it may snow.  It will be good news for the wild fire fighters and for the trees that need moisture to get through the winter…and it will take care of all the smoke in the air.   The bad news…winter is coming.  I knew it was coming just not so soon.

Whilst writing that last sentence and listening to Obama and Romney debate.. Far Guy’s pager went off.  There was a fire reported on our corner.   Far Guy took off running..I said “Grab a shovel for me too.”  Arson..there was fire in the ditch on both sides of the road.  The west side is a plowed field..the east side is all trees..pines and oaks..there was a forest fire in there years ago.  I for one did not want to repeat that afternoon/evening.  We needed to stop the fire..and with two old people wielding shovels we kept it from advancing into the trees.  I don’t know what kind of sick bastards start fires when it is so dry.  They should be put in jail for the rest of their lives..or burned at the stake.   No photos..I left the house so fast I did not grab my camera.

Far Guy said, “ You could have taken some really good photos.”

Just like old times..it seemed like it took forever for the fire trucks to get there…but they came and they had water and quickly knocked the rest of the fire down…they mopped up.. and we came home tired and coughing.  I will welcome whatever moisture comes our way:)

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23 comments:

troutbirder said...

Scary. The dry continues here as well. Forest fires are rarely a problem unless they get into dried cornfields...

DJan said...

I started to watch the debate but quickly grew tired of it. Good for you for getting that fire out so quickly. We have haze from the fires on the other side of the Cascades, but nothing as bad as what you show here.

linda m said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
linda m said...

Thank God you and Far Guy were so close that you could keep the fire from spreading. People that deliberately start fires are indeed sick. Winter will be here sooner than later also.

GramMary said...

Bless you and FG. You are indeed good neighbors.

Muffy's Marks said...

Bastards is right. Who would do such a thing? Well being a little familiar with the area I have a few good guesses. Awful, just awful!! Glad it was put out quickly with not a lot of damage. An incident like that does put you on edge, wondering if they'll be back or where the next fire might appear!!

RURAL said...

It just blows me away that anyone would start something like that on purpose. What on earth is wrong with people.

Thank goodness you guys were willing and able to get out there and help out.

The huge fire the other month, was from a teenager playing with a found lighter. And for the Peachland fire, people lost their houses.....

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

MTWaggin said...

The winter storm passed thru here yesterday and we didn't get much moisture but we'll take it and it is so nice to walk outside and not smell like campfire!

Lanny said...

Well I do hope you get your moisture, hear tell Gene's too old for the shovel brigade! I'm surprised your camera isn't attached to your person at all times.

There are lots of things I just don't understand and probably never will, arson would be right there at the top of that list.

Muffie said...

Pretty sick people out there who find amusement in starting fires! Glad you were able to keep it from going wild. Wish I could send you some of our dreary rainy weather!
Peace,
Muff

Nancy said...

It has been smoky in my area nearly the whole summer: forest fires to the west, south, and north. I am sick of smoke and welcome the cold front that is coming this Friday. Moisture (rain or snow) will be welcomed by nearly everyone in this area; that is, if it extinguishes the fires.

Glad that you and Far Guy were able to keep the fire from spreading.

L. D. said...

A coating of snow would help things out a lot but people who throw things out to set fires are stupid.

Anonymous said...

I gather Fargo got some snow.

But it saddens me to think of people deliberately setting things on fire and putting others in danger.

Karen said...

I hate to think of you getting snow so soon, but better than fires I guess. The southern half of our province has a high to extreme forest fire danger, as we had record low rainfalls for August and September.

Some people... talk about sh*t for brains....:(

Country Gal said...

Oh the S word yuk ! But like you said any moister will help put out those fires ! Some people are just plain stupid . I am glad you guys got it put out and no one got hurt ! Have a good day !

NCmountainwoman said...

Arson makes my blood boil. So glad you guys were able to contain the fire.

Anonymous said...

We are on a red Flag Wind warning, so dry here in the pacific northwest if some yahoo started some crap the whole Gorge would go up in a heartbeat..I pray daily for people to be vigilant about fire and its very real danger..It could burn in a new york minute and destroy valuable land and human beings..Driest july, august and september in over 100 years..no moisture and the precipitation level is dangerously low!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ocean is not that far but the valleys and hills and mountains are like cinder..I just keep a praying no one does anything naughty or the land and people will be burned up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!luv your blog, god bless you and your hubby for saving the fire from burning and making the land like a desert and destroy your land and property!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jacqi Stevens said...

Glad you were able to respond quickly and knock that fire out before it did any major damage.

The temperatures around here dropped ten days from the previous day so I guess that's a sign that something's afoot in the winter weather movement. I'm sad about that, too...but at least not to the point of having to shovel snow :) Southern living has its benefits.

Anonymous said...

I hope the arsonists are caught and punished. That makes me so angry.
Bless you both for your valiant efforts.

Rita said...

I hope the snow we got came your way. I agree--they should be locked up for that!! What could they possibly be thinking!!?? You guys are heros in my book!! :):)

LindaG said...

Hope you're okay now.
People who start fires are scum.
*hugs* God bless. ♥

Red said...

We'e had two days of nasty weather so it's probably moving on to you.We had minus 5 C last night...the first killing frost of the year.
Really sad a bout deliberately set fires. Some people have no concept of the harm they could cause.

Terry and Linda said...

Oh, Connie! I am so glad you are safe and your forest and your house. We have been gone for a week so I didn't know this until just now!! I'm so glad it was stopped. So very glad. I agree with you....as you well know from our experience this spring! Deliberately set fires are a sickness and those people need to be punished --- I mean truly punished!!!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com