Wildfire 2010
Well, here it is fire season again and it's got an early start on us. Will try to add a new picture or two occasionally over the season as things happen.
The fire behind the house to the North. May 20th or 21st. About 3 quarters of a mile away, or "2 hours away if the wind doesn't change" is what the fire fighters warned us of at the time.
The fire service air-dropped Zodiac craft in to thier smoke jumpers and they've sure made good use of them getting around on the river keeping track of the fire and hauling men and equipment. This is here at our boat landing.
Choppers are a big part of the fire fighting operation, as well as the rest of the air support. I haven't gotten alot of pictures of the other aircraft as it's been working.
Wildfires drive all the forest animals ahead of them so sometimes we see more of them than usual. Here are some large Black Bear tracks on the rivers edge.
Pictures of the fire as it swung around in front of us. This was on May 23rd. It's about half a mile away from us in these pictures. During this time were getting hot ash here at the place.
'Brad' , one of the Hot shot Crew that is working to clear sawline for a firebreak on the top of the mountain behind our place. He said "It's amazing what you can get done with 20 men." The Hot Shot Crews are working in groups of 4 men and go ahead of one another about 100 yards falling trees and then another group comes up and clears those out as the others go on ahead further,and they just keep "leap-frogging through the forest that way until the fireline is cut and cleared . May 25th.
May 25th. Hotshot Crews clearing sawline for firebreak .
Finished sawline ,cut and cleared . Great work ,guys.
4:30p.m. may25th Fire trying to cross the river just a bend above us.
The "Face" of the Toklat Fire. Do you see it? A man with a beard and a frown.. This was early evening May 25th.
Around 10 p.m. May 25th. The fire coming in through the opening at the upper end of our slough. About a half a mile away.
Fire making runs just upriver from us at 10:30 p.m. May 25th. About a mile away in these photos. Recieved a comment from someone that the fire in these photos looks worse than it actually is, but in all truth, It is every bit as bad as it looks.
While I was up on the roof I caught a quick snapshot of these two rascals. (Bill Coy and Mike Turner).
Toklat fire on May 27th, just upriver from us in the early evening.
May 29th. Toklat fire burning along the river.
Very high plumes of the Toklat Fire May 29th,along the Kantishna River.
May 30th. Very heavy smoke conditions interferring with fire suppressions efforts.
Through a distance lens on my digital camera.
Fire crews at work unloading jet fuel drums. May 31st.
June 1st. Heavy smoke and plumes of the Toklat fire.