Got a call from my brother next door, letting me know there is a fire in the area. We couldn’t see it from our windows until I went out clear of the trees. I then drove a mile south up the road to see better.
This is to the south west of us. The winds are from the south east. It seems to be a few miles away. I called the fire department and did get a call back to confirm they are on site, however we’ve got bug out bags partially packed. The gate is open and the van is by the door. If we need to evacuate, we can be out in a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, we wait and watch out the windows. I will be going out to see past the trees every now and then.
It’s supposed to rain soon. Pray that it does!
The Re-Farmer
Update:
This fire has apparently been going on for much of the day. It must have been the source of the smoke I was smelling earlier today.
One home has been lost. The fire department has roads blocked and are monitoring, but there isn’t much else they can do. Several farms in the area had done controlled burns in previous weeks, so there is only so far the fire can go before it runs out of fuel. Fires, however, are so unpredictable!
It seems that someone had tried to do a burn on the side of the road, even in this wind. There is an automatic fire ban if winds exceed 20kph, and we were well past that today. From what I’m told, the fire kept jumping the roads and has already covered quite a distance. My brother said he could still see it from a high perch at his place, whenever a spruce tree would go up. Those pretty much explode, they go up so quickly. He, however, was confident enough to go to bed.
I think I’m going to be a bit too wired for that for a while.
The Re-Farmer 