Wildfires Burning Like Mad

It's the fourth day of August, and it is still wildfire season in the northern hemisphere.  Currently there are 115 large wildfires burning in the United States.  "Large" means 40 acres or more.  Of those 115 fires, 9 are contained and will not spread further, but 68 of them are not contained or under any type of control.  There is currently one wildfire burning in the Everglades in Florida, three in Texas, and multiple fires in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
   In Alaska, there are 16 wildfires burning.  So far, they have consumed 256, 995.5 acres - or 401.555 square miles.  There are also 16 wildfires burning in Colorado.  Acreage lost is 180,069, which equals 281.357 square miles.  The largest Colorado wildfire began with a Danish tourist, whose visitor's visa had expired, building a fire pit in early June.  More than 100 homes have been destroyed, the fire has run wild over more than 108,000 acres, and is still not contained.
  The fires receiving the most publicity currently, are the ones in California, and there are 14 that are burning.  The three largest, and getting the most attention, are the Natchez fire, which has burned 8,432 acres; the Ferguson fire, which has burned 77,207 acres; and the Carr fire, which has destroyed 183,924 acres.  Just those three fires equal a burn area of 343.067 square miles.  The Carr fire has been the most deadly, killing people and destroying homes.  It was started by a car with a flat tire.
   Just adding the areas burned so far in Alaska, Colorado, and the three afore-named fires in California, the square mileage burned is 1,025.979.  That is almost the same size as the state of Rhode Island (1,212 square miles).  And that is not counting the other 80 wildfires that are burning...

Wildfire Season - Twelve Are Burning Now...

June means wildfire season - and fires scare the daylights out of me.  The only type of death that frightens me is the thought of fire.  My husband was a firefighter, and his greatest fear was of drowning...  I always thought that was funny, for some reason.
   It was very windy all across Colorado, which was a bad thing, in relation to wildfires. There are two, or three, wildfires burning in the state at this time... The reason I'm not sure of the number is because one is called the Spool Fire, the smallest burning at 450 acres, and it's right at the state lines of Colorado and New Mexico.  The Fire Incident Report doesn't have an exact position.The Horse Park Fire, in San Miguel County has burned 1,221 acres; and the 416 Fire, south of Durango, is estimated at over 1,500 acres now, and 1,500 people have been evacuated from their homes.  In New Mexico, the community of Cimarron has been evacuated.
  Currently, 42,380 acres, or 66.21875 square miles, has been burned by the twelve current "Large" incidents listed...  Here they are:
1.   Pine Ridge Fire,   Uintah County, Utah   - 521 acres
2.   Buzzard Fire,   Catron County, New Mexico   -  24,341 acres
3.   Horse Park Fire,   San Miguel County, Colorado   -  1,221 acres
4.   416 Fire,   La Plata County, Colorado   - 1,500 acres
5.   Ute Park Fire,   Colfax County, New Mexico   -  3,900 acres
6.   Kellar Fire,   Eddy County, New Mexico   - 5,750 acres
7.   Lyons Fire,   Quay County, New Mexico   -  700 acres
8.   Brininstoll Fire,   Lea County, New Mexico   - 640 acres
9.   Spool Fire,   Colorado/New Mexico line   -  450 acres
10.  Webster Fire,    Minnesota   - 818 acres
11.  Cn 346-b Fire,   Alabama/Florida line   - 482 acres
12.  Tye River Fire,   Virginia   - 2,057 acres

We cannot control lightning strikes, which do ignite wildfires - but  - please, be extremely careful with matches, cigars, cigarettes, campfires, controlled burns, and, especially, fireworks this dry season.

64 Large Wildfires in Western US

We have drought.  We have higher than average summer temperatures.  We have very little rainfall.  For the past five days, Colorado skies have been hazy with smoke and ash and fine particulates due to the wildfires all around us.  Currently, the "Large Incident Wildfires map" shows only one fire burning in western Colorado; there are five in Oklahoma and three in Texas - the other 55 fires are spread across states to the north and west of Colorado.  The largest fire is in Montana and is partially on the Rose Bud Reservation; the fastest spreading fire is in Washington state; and we're also getting smoke from the Mount Shasta fire in California.  This haze gives the sunrises and sunsets a tremendous amount of red color - and it's pretty -  but I'd prefer clear air, myself.
  Not only is the western US on fire, but Spain is being hit by wildfires.  The areas of Catalonia, Valencia, and the Canary Islands are being extremely hard hit, and three times the amount of land has burned (so far this year) compared to what was lost last year.  With the euro dropping, and the austerity measures called for in most European countries, Spain's fire fighters are being hit hard.  Almost 25% of the professional fire fighters cannot help combat fires because they don't have gloves and/or boots - and their oxygen breathing apparatuses are in short supply.  That isn't healthy for any one.  -  And then there's the flooding in the Philippines...  I could go on and on...
   I had to laugh out loud yesterday - the Munsingers left yesterday to drive their youngest son to Tacoma, where he begins his college education on Monday.  A good friend of Andrew's, Henry, spent some time with Andrew on Monday afternoon and evening.  Lisa, Henry's mother, called me in a panic, because Henry lost his wallet sometime Monday evening.  As I have met Lisa and Henry previously, I told them to come on over and search for the missing wallet.  It had Henry's drivers license, a new credit card, a debit card, his insurance cards, and Social Security number in it.  The only thing Henry could find was his new CSU student ID.  They spent almost 40 minutes, checking the computer and band rooms, looking in the family cars (as Henry had ridden in both of them), and checking out Andrew's room.  No wallet.  About an  hour later, Lisa called me from home - Henry had found his wallet.  Where was it?  In his bed, under his pillow.  It sounded as though Lisa was going to strangle Henry before he got away to the university at all.....

Wildfires All Around the Country

There are two wildfires burning in western Colorado, near the Utah border - I haven't said much about them because they are not currently affecting our air quality - and it's a hot, dry summer, and summer wildfires are normal.  -  BUT.   But, there are currently 38 large wildfires burning with little or no control, and 143 new small fires were reported over the past two days.  That's kind of scary. I have had my nose and mind buried in the happenings on Chincoteague and Assateague, and on the Olympics results from Great Britain, but that isn't a good excuse.   Wildfires have positively blossomed over the last few weeks - and I have pretty much ignored them because they don't seem to affect me.  The scenes of the fires in Oklahoma are horrific, and very little coverage is given to the 6 large fires in Montana, or the 7 large fires in Idaho.  It seems incredible - and I am truly horrified from hearing that one of the fires in Oklahoma was started by someone tossing a flaming newspaper out of their truck and into the brush beside the road.  That is just unimaginable for me.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lives near, or has lost anything, to this spate of fires....
  NBC will be showing 30 minutes of the second qualifying round of Grand Prix Jumping at 11:30 MDT today - Don't read the next few lines if you want to be surprised...  In the second jumping qualifying round, Reed Kessler and Cyana did not qualify, and Beezie didn't qualify after two refusals yesterday.  Rich Fellers (on Flexible) is currently one of twelve without any faults in the jumping competition, while McLain Ward and Antares have four faults.
   I spent most of yesterday evening sorting and labeling 250 photos on Snapfish.  Color me frustrated.  I looked at the results before bed last night, and found that most of the descriptions of the photos has migrated by one, or two, frames.  I was fit to be tied!  So I took a long, cooling walk in the neighborhood, and had to laugh at the antics of the raccoon family and the young fox kits.  There is nothing like an animal to bring me back to an "even keel."
  Speaking of even keels - there was an very interesting gathering at the harbor in Crisfield, Maryland (on the Chespeake Bay) yesterday.  They had the First Annual Buy Boat Reunion and Crab Feast there, and were very happy with the large turn-out that appeared.  Residents from throughout Delmarva filed into the Somers Cove Marina Saturday to take a step back in history as they walked onto the decks of buy boats.  The boats, a dozen of which were docked at the marina for a reunion, used to purchase oysters from the harvesting boats and transport them to dock, where they could be sold to oyster processing houses in Crisfield.  Jay Tawes, organizer of the event, said he expected up to 500 people to visit the marina throughout the reunion to remember the region's maritime history and to teach it to the next generation.
  "The kids fell in love with these boats," Tawes said. "So these boats lend themselves to the charm of not only the older people that remember them, but to the younger people that see the charm in them. Three of four of these kids said 'I want to go raise money and buy one of these boats.' "  The buy boats were popular during the 1920s and 1930s when production was at a peak, however became rare in the mid-20th century when Maryland passed a law requiring watermen to bring their catches directly to shore for better accounting of harvests and taxes.  Since then, those interested in the history of buy boats have been able to preserve several of them.
   I hope this Sunday is pleasant for you, and that you enjoy the Olympic coverage - 5 channels to choose from is a blast!