RhumbRunner13
No alts, no "Iggy"
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2002
- Posts
- 3,463
We have all watched news coverage of distant disasters and felt for the victims as they wandered among the ruins of their tornado stricken neighborhood or their flood ravaged farms. It is now a much closer feeling for us, more desparate and fearful.
Four days ago our daughter called from Show Low to say that they had been put on evacuation alert as the Rodeo fire worked its way northeastward toward the home that until three years ago was my wife's.
The next day my wife called my sister and BIL who live in Overgaard thirty miles west of Show Low. There beautiful log cabin on an acre and a half of tall Ponderosa pine was in the path of the Chedeski fire started by a lost hiker trying to "signal" a news helicopter to rescue her. They packed up their fifth wheel and car with all their animals and left for Holbrook.
Last night at 10:45 we recieved a call from Show Low that the kids and grandchild had been ordered out, their home sits among the tall pines on the northwest corner of Show Low. This morning they called and said they were in Holbrook on their way through Flagstaff down to the Phoenix valley to stay with our friends or Grandma.
These fires have now burned 283,000 acres, nearly 20 times the size of Manhatten, in the largest standing Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. The two fires are very close to becoming one, if they haven't already. Containment stands at 0%. Last night the fire burned through Overgaard-Heber, too early to know specific losses. Latest reports indicate the fire is about two hours from entering the town of Show Low with acerage burned up to 380,000.
So far there are no reports of any human death and the evacuation of some 30,000 people has been very smooth. Our family is safe, even though everything they own and treasure may be gone or will soon be.
I post this not to elicite sympathy or empathy, our family is safe, and knowing well the spirit of those people who live in the high country of Arizona they will find a way to recover and prosper in the future. I post this rather to make everyone aware that it was an unnecessary total waste!
You see, the Forest Service has tried for years to manage those forests with controlled burns to eliminate the ground fuel that has accumulated over the years. Each time they do environmentalist groups who want they forest kept "natural" throw legal roadblocks into their path. The results are now apparant, it is all gone!
Rhumb
Four days ago our daughter called from Show Low to say that they had been put on evacuation alert as the Rodeo fire worked its way northeastward toward the home that until three years ago was my wife's.
The next day my wife called my sister and BIL who live in Overgaard thirty miles west of Show Low. There beautiful log cabin on an acre and a half of tall Ponderosa pine was in the path of the Chedeski fire started by a lost hiker trying to "signal" a news helicopter to rescue her. They packed up their fifth wheel and car with all their animals and left for Holbrook.
Last night at 10:45 we recieved a call from Show Low that the kids and grandchild had been ordered out, their home sits among the tall pines on the northwest corner of Show Low. This morning they called and said they were in Holbrook on their way through Flagstaff down to the Phoenix valley to stay with our friends or Grandma.
These fires have now burned 283,000 acres, nearly 20 times the size of Manhatten, in the largest standing Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. The two fires are very close to becoming one, if they haven't already. Containment stands at 0%. Last night the fire burned through Overgaard-Heber, too early to know specific losses. Latest reports indicate the fire is about two hours from entering the town of Show Low with acerage burned up to 380,000.
So far there are no reports of any human death and the evacuation of some 30,000 people has been very smooth. Our family is safe, even though everything they own and treasure may be gone or will soon be.
I post this not to elicite sympathy or empathy, our family is safe, and knowing well the spirit of those people who live in the high country of Arizona they will find a way to recover and prosper in the future. I post this rather to make everyone aware that it was an unnecessary total waste!
You see, the Forest Service has tried for years to manage those forests with controlled burns to eliminate the ground fuel that has accumulated over the years. Each time they do environmentalist groups who want they forest kept "natural" throw legal roadblocks into their path. The results are now apparant, it is all gone!
Rhumb
