End of the World

What a week this has been! It may not be the end of the world but there are times when it has looked like it! For one thing, we have had one search and rescue call after another - it seems like people are now making up for the slow start to the season. Add that to the Hole in the Wall forest fire that refuses to behave and it makes for an unsettled atmosphere to say the least.

I took some photos of the fire as we made our way home from a SAR call near Cody yesterday afternoon. The top photo is from about 25 miles away. We could see that the fire - which had looked like it was under control when we left yesterday morning - had found new life and was moving north.

As we turned toward Clark from the highway we were able to get a shot of the firefighter camps set up in the valley with the fire in the background. To the left in the photo is the Clark Firehall. To the right is the community center with yurts and tents set up in the fields. There are now almost 200 firefighters battling this blaze.

As we got closer to home we were able to get a clearer idea of the size and direction of the fire.

Just after dinner Ken suddenly called me to come quickly and look out the windows. The wind had picked up and shifted and we had a wall of smoke and ash aimed right at our house. I took the photo above while standing on the back porch.

 This shot was taken through the dining room window. Right after this it went dark as we were engulfed by the smoke and ash. We shut the house up as tightly as we could and packed our bags in case we would need to evacuate quickly.

After a couple hours the wind shifted again and the smoke headed north. It is still hard to breathe outside but we are no longer worried about falling embers - at least for the moment.

The fire has grown to almost 4000 acres and they are now concerned it will follow the plateau all the way to the town of Red Lodge, Montana.

The last three photos were taken this morning and show the smoke hanging in the air. The whole sky looks like it is on fire!