Fires

Since Wednesday the 15th we have been skirted on two sides by range fires. The fire to the north of us is closer to Sharon who all tho we are neighbor's she is on the side of a hill in another valley. She has good pictures of the smoke that was coming from each fire here.
Yesterday, Friday the 17th, brought all the action to our neighborhood. The fire to the south of us was starting to come over the ridge and if it did it would be on the our side the mountain we live on, part of the Peterson Mountain Range.
This picture is from our front porch looking east. A good part of the day there were three helicopters dipping water from the pond and flying the water over to the fire. (Don't forget to click on the pictures to biggiefy) The helicopters yesterday had shorter ropes where the bucket was attached. They had to get way close to the water in order to fill their buckets. This picture the copter is still not as low as he would go. The ridge between the copter an me would hide the entire helicopter and all you could see were his "propellers"?

This picture above he is still not down as far as he needed to go. Then below he is off to the mountain ridge to help douse the flames. We never did see any flames come over to our side.

Now today there are still helicopters coming to the pond but they are taking the water a bit farther than yesterday. I feel safer today because yesterday along with the three helicopters there were 15 to 20 fire trucks, all different types, parked at the pond ready to protect the houses if the fire did make it over the ridge. Love those firemen!!!

The helicopters in the pictures above and below have a different set up with long ropes attached to the buckets. They don't get anywhere near the water. I don't know for sure but these helicopters look bigger then the dare-devils from yesterday.

We feel pretty safe with the sheep on our hillside grazing down the small fuel. We have been hit with fires in the past years and the fire on the most part will stop at the fence. The small dry plants under the brush gets the big stuff to catch fire and without it the fire has too few places to catch thus slowing the fire as it hits our fence line.

Then I even have another fire break as you get closer to our house with watered grass and no brush at all. Oh and the house has a metal roof.