This incredible dryness has another effect: wildfires. Last week there were two fires within sight of the highway, one on the 5th and one on the 6th. They were each within a few miles of John Day Dam, where I was working last week. The second fire was far less dramatic, so I will start there. It started in the mid-afternoon and was put out before I got off work in the evening. It did, however, inundate us with smoke driven east by the wind. Below is a picture of the smoke blowing over the navlock peninsula.
And here is a picture of the remnants of that fire.
The first fire also started sometime around mid-afternoon, but this one was still burning when I got off work. It was only a couple miles east of John Day, so I went to check it out. It was traveling downhill very slowly. It was pretty, in a strange sort of way.
This is a close up of the right side of the fire. The black in this photo is a herd of cattle escaping from the fire.
Below is a picture of the remnants of that fire. It was out by the time I got to work the following day.
I've never been so close to a wildfire before. Mike, one of my bosses, tells me that they are very common around here, and I am likely to see a number more before the end of July. I suppose two fires in two days within ten miles of each other is a good indicator of their frequency.
Any idea what causes them? Is it most likely human carelessness?
ReplyDeleteThe temperatures sound heavenly.
The history of wildfires in the west is comparable to the history of dams in some ways --- people changing nature to suit their own desires, leading to all sorts of problems. I suppose if you were a Native American, a couple thousand years ago, observing the fire you described (& photographed), you would be in as much awe as you were the other night, only you would attribute it automatically to nature or to the divine (unless of course someone in your tribe were playing with matches). Beautiful photos.
ReplyDeletedude that's rad
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