We were driving home from Washington state on Saturday evening when we decided not to take the usual route we enjoy at the last minute. It turned out to be a good choice as that road had to be closed due to fire. We could see the flames in the dark as we drove.
This is one of the planes that are fighting the fire - there is also a #12 plane just like this one. They are here from Missoula Montana to help out.
These are air tankers #55 and #53 from Conair Aviation based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. There are multiple planes flying out of the Redmond Airtanker Base at the Redmond airport. When I went to town to watch them today, they were flying hard and fast, pulling in just long enough to fill with fire fighting chemical loads. It is truly a heart wrenching sight knowing that these planes and pilots can save a structure or lives from the rapidly moving fire. We are so fortunate that they are here...
The smoke from the fires has been very thick. We haven't been able to open any windows and advisories have been issued about the bad air quality for folks with health issues. But the weather has cooled down for the last couple of days. The national weather service has issued a frost warning for tonight. That should help damp down the fires if the winds stay calm.
I need to get outside and check plants to see if there are any that need to be covered or moved to a protected location. Don't you think it is a little early for frost??!!
5 comments:
I'm in Los Angeles and I was just commenting that there aren't any fires burning even though everything is VERY dry. When Wayne worked for the Air National Guard they used their C-130 aircraft for firefighting. But they couldn't fly until all of the civilian planes were in operation. Seemed silly to worry about getting all the private fire fighters taken care of rather than responding quickly with everything you've got. - Margy
I'm not sure if it's too early for frost--we usually have one about this time. I think the summer just went so darn fast it doesn't seem possible.
Hope you stay out of harms way with the fires. That's got to be scary!!
Great post; we read and see so much about this disaster and you are living it. Sending good vibes your way that your lives can come back to normal soon.
Rita
for some reason this has not made the news in Arizona..as far as I know anyway. I hope we have some guys up there helping...Oregon is always so generous when it comes to sending fire fighters in Az.. hoping things will calm down soon...
I hope the fires get put out soon. Frost warning - too early.
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