What The Blazes...(With Updates!)

The American Fire has grown beyond what we thought it would do. Last Sunday, August 11th it was 15 acres, by Sunday morning the 18th it was 12,950, and is now 13,730 14,765 14,990 15,738 16,822 20,232 22,040 24,135 24,684 24,935 26,004 acres and  45% 49% 54% 63% 60% 66% 67% 78% 83% 88% 92% contained. We have been under an air quality watch and from the above pic you can see why. It's been pretty smoky here most mornings. The estimated time of containment for this blaze is August 28th September 1st August 29th. So, we have many more days of this hazy air. If you click on the above link you'll see the incredible effort being made to suppress this fire. There are 1433 1822 1614 1283 1082 personnel, and the team has been transitioned to an Incident Type 1 -- the toughest fire fighter crews there are. 

The skies cleared here on Wednesday. This is what it looks like now.

When the smoke blows north of us and the skies clear, we go outside to see what's happening out there. On Friday, there was this perfect circumzenithal arc. It was visible for no more than two minutes. Poof... gone.

Last Monday, when the fire was only 800 acres, after the smoke blew away, there was this lovely sundog. We take advantage of the clear-ish air whenever the opportunity presents itself. Fortunately there have been sights to dazzle us in these brief moments.

It's been interesting and challenging staying indoors. It's not a good idea to hike or do much physical exertion during times of such intense smokiness. We'll just add this craziness to the column of why we plan to leave here next year. Not another blazing hot summer, not another blazing summer fire...