The First Fire of Summer

Yesterday, on my way down Hwy 4 to run errands in the Valley, I was thinking about summer wildfires and how we hadn't had any...yet. Minutes later, at the crest of Vista Point, I had a really excellent view of that first fire of summer. A massive plume of smoke was billowing up from the area around Woodward Reservoir, about 15 miles away. I could actually see the tiny licks of flame. Hard not to start worrying. But, as I continued down the hill, I had to pull over several times for the fire trucks racing past me and then the CDF helicopters clattered overhead. So it was being taken care of -- and I'll admit that I was relieved that this fire was far enough from our house not to pose a threat.

On my way home about an hour later, I saw that the smoke from the Woodward fire was a lot less dense. The firefighters had obviously gotten it under control and I had several minutes to feel happy about this. Then, up the road in the distance, a delicate smudge of smoke wafted through the trees and I realized that I was looking at the second fire of summer. Bruce was home, so (hardly hysterical at all) I called him on the cell phone and told him that a fire was very, very close and I'd be home in a few minutes. Yes, I used the phone while driving -- the smoke was blooming larger with every second and I wasn't about to stop. Just below Vista Point the flames were racing across the grass and oaks towards the right shoulder of the highway. No fire trucks yet. No law enforcement of any kind. Just a few motorists parked on the opposite side of the highway from the fire, watching the show like they were looking at the monkey exhibit at the zoo. Really! My little orange car and I scooted on by the audience, even as the fire raced across the grass towards the road and a few blowing embers pinged against the door. Then I was past the fire. Right after that the first fire truck roared past me, hopefully to save the day.

And save the day they did -- the fire was contained by late afternoon. It was a smallish sort of fire, but it was less than two miles from our house. So it was plenty big enough. Here's a link to some pix of the three fires in our area that day (the third fire was the farthest away from us and somehow I missed it).

http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/popupM.php?PID=1318314%201318327%201318335%201318337&ID=1318270

This evening we heard that there was a fourth fire over by the reservoir again. Could someone be setting these intentionally? A troubling thought...