Fire Fighting

 It seems as if we have been fighting fires this entire year:  Covid-19, quarantining, finding toilet paper, adjusting to unusual cold and hot spells.  This is certainly a memorable year, made more so by an incident that happened at the cabin.

On August 20, while Don was outside the cabin talking with a neighbor, I took Jordy and Nelson out onto the flagstone deck.  I looked up across the hill, and amazingly, I saw a large puff of smoke emanating from the ground.  I knew immediately it was a fire.  I yelled at Don to look at it, and we immediately began to scramble.

I raced inside and first tried calling Huie - but I only got his voicemail.  Then Chris - same result.  No one answered at the fire department, nor at the Ranger Station. I was very frustrated, but then I saw Chris go racing down the driveway in his truck.  He had been at the neighbor's house, and when he heard there was a fire, he jumped into action.

In the meantime, Don began to collect a rake, a hoe, and a shovel . . . and then he filled two water bottles.  We raced to the car and drove up to the Noel's compound.  After figuring out where Chris was, Don and I hiked as fast as we could (we're old, you know), found Chris, and immediately took instruction from him on how to "cut line."  He had surrounded quite a bit of the fire before we got there, but there were still flaming logs and plenty more to do.  Within about 30 minutes, the fire was completely contained, though it was still puffing quite a bit.  We took a drink of water, poured the rest on the fire, and left.

Once we were home, I called the Forest Service in Santa Fe, and they sent a crew out to mop up.  They had water bladders that they poured on the remains, and soon it was completely out.

Grateful.  That is the best way to define my feelings.  Grateful that I had to take Jordy outside and was able to see the fire.  Grateful that Chris was in the area so that he could get right on the fire.  Grateful that Don and I were in good enough shape that we could help.  Grateful that we saw the fire at its very beginnings - it could have been VERY bad, but instead, it was easily contained and a non-issue.