Yep. We are. And it’s not the good kind. We got up yesterday to falling ash. There is something deeply unsettling about stepping outside at any point during the day and seeing and smelling smoke.
Don’t you hate it when you’re sure you’ve ranted about something but then you can’t find it? Ya. Me too.
One of the topics that’s taken up a lot of my time through the years is fire. So much so, that while I remember very clearly planning to write about it, it appears I didn’t actually do it, for some unknown reason. Maybe it’s because it’s too depressing.
Last year, I wrote about being in a dry spell. It was really bad. My town recorded the driest start to the year since record keeping began in 1895, with a whopping .09 of precipitation from January 1 to May 12. When you normally get around nearly 13 inches of annual precipitation but only get 5.56 for the entire year, you know you are in trouble. It was no wonder we had bears in town!
And, it was hot. We spent from May on to September at least being mostly 100 degrees or hotter most days. I know some records will say we only had 60 days of 100+ weather, but their data stations aren’t in my backyard. We had a stretch of almost a month where it was around 110 every day, and daily highs were over 105. (Now, you people in Texas and Arizona, I know had it worse, so everything actually is relative…………..)
The year started off with a cold snap in February, that brought daily highs of -11; lows of -14. No, I’m not joking. The last time I remember that kind of cold was 16 years ago when we lived in NE Colorado. We here in the desert are used to daily swings of 50 degrees. But that cold was brutal, as was the heat and drought that followed.
You may remember the Las Conchas fire last year that threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratories. To date, it was the largest fire the state had seen, at 156, 593 acres.
Las Conchas fire pictures here.
However bad we thought that was, it doesn’t come close to the Whitewater Baldy Complex fire. As of this morning, it has consumed 278,039 acres and is only 32% contained. There are 738 people engaged in fighting this fire. Growth potential is high. This fire is part of the Gila National Forest, where most recently, ultra marathon runner Micah True (of the book Born to Run fame) passed away in the Gila Wilderness; which is now on fire.
You can see more pictures here.
The fire raining ash on my house yesterday, is a baby fire in comparison at this point. It’s the Little Bear fire. As of this morning, it’s got 26,000 acres and is 0% contained. This is all rugged, mountain terrain. All of our favorite campgrounds have been evacuated. I don’t know if they’ve burned or not. There’s conflicting word regarding a church camp, church, and surrounding homes on the complex. We know people whose homes have been lost. My aunt and uncle used to have a cabin up there.
I’ve heard that the church and church camp are lost, but I’ve also heard the church is ok. Seeing as a good friend’s brother-in-law is the pastor there, I am sure I’ll be able to get updates once people can get in. It’s heartbreaking. The church and camp there are closely tied to the community here, and many, many people I’m friends with have cabins up there. The Ruidoso Free Press reports the church and campground have been “compromised.”
For more pictures (where I got the one above) and updates, I’ve been checking out the Southeastern New Mexico Weather Web Page.
We’re under a red flag warning, too. This means sustained winds of 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. NOT good help for fighting fires.
And, for the record, we’re still in a drought, although rumor has it that El Nino may be showing up soon. We can only pray.
Picture courtesy of MSNBC.
I pray for your safety and for rain in your area.
Thank you, Imelda. We sure need both! 🙂
Having been through this sort of thing last fall, I sympathize with the worries and the dangers. Stay safe, first and foremost!
Oh my word- last year was brutal for you guys! Lots of property lost, and I just saw a picture of flames behind Spenser Theatre. I’m going to see if I can paste it in here. Heartbreaking.
Praying for containment and safety!
Thank you, Carly. Church camp update says, “”All of our main buildings (Armstrong, Morris Center, Angus Church, pool building, Ingram dorm, and Freeman dorm) are all standing with some smoke damage. The gym is totally destroyed. We do not have further assessment of cabins, houses, and other lodging at this time.”
We know that many have lost homes, including two siblings of my friend. I don’t know that they can get in to completely assess the damage yet. 😦
And her mom, she says- noth sisters and her mother’s homes are gone. 😦
Sorry to hear that. Pray the Lord provides for them asap. Pray the whole area gets rain, and that the fire is under control very soon. Carley
Hope they get ahead of the fires before more lives are at risk.
Hoping you and yours stay safe.
Hoping to get some rain- I’ll update this probably tomorrow, but today’s count is a confirmed 224 home destroyed, over 36,000 acres now, and I heard there are 1,200 firefighters there now. Yesterday, they brought in a jet (which was wild, seeing it fly in the mountains and making those turns) to lay down retardant, and it’s now something like 35% contained. One day of bad winds can cause major issues, though.
At least our air quality has been better, but to personally know so many who have lost homes is awful. 😦 It won’t make it here, but it’s close enough. Thanks for thinking of us!
Having lived in the “bush” in N.W. Ontario for 7 years, I can certainly sympathize with forest fires. We had fires every year & a couple times our town had to be evacuated due to fires. Since our town hosted the area fire fighters for the province, it was a very serious situation. In the summer, we had a “go” bag packed with a couple pairs of underwear each, a couple tops, some bottled water, medications, treasured photos – so if we had to evacuate at a moment’s notice we could. I hope you never get to that point.
I think we’re probably ok here in town since we are solidly in the desert, but the mountains aren’t far, and a lot of people we know lost homes this time around.
Having a bug out bag is critically important, imo. I think where most people live, there is the potential for some kind of disaster that would require evacuation in a hurry.
The thing I would add would be legal and financial (bank/bill info) so that you it would be available if I couldn’t get back home in a timely fashion.
You are smart to have it ready to go!