Hot Times in the Gorge

I'd like to say it's the level of fun, or the weather (which has been delightfully cool…eat your hearts out TX friends…I'm wearing jeans, long sleeves and a FLEECE VEST at NOON!). But it's not that.

No place is perfect. I'll skip the social imperfections of different places I've lived, like commutes, bad drivers, intolerance, politics, for just a few. I'll focus on natural imperfections. Houston has its heat and humidity, hurricanes, tornados, flooding and lightning. Ditto for Louisiana. New England has the occasional hurricane, blizzard, and ice storms. California has earthquakes and fires. The New England and California imperfections aren't deal breakers for me, so I was more than OK with a move to the Pacific Northwest. Well, our little neck of the woods made the night news last night, and front page of section B of the Oregonian today with a Gorge fire.

It started after the morning dog walk. Close to noon we heard fire sirens, and could smell smoke. One look from our deck across to Underwood Mt, and we could see why. Plumes of smoke were rising from a spot on the Columbia River side of the mountain. We were planning a trek across to Hood River. I was in dire need of canning jars and a run to a major grocery store. Instead of leaving the dog behind, we decided to take her, just in case. The view from the bridge was amazing. I imagined I was seeing orange flames. We got to our destination, which was directly across from the conflagration. I wasn't imagining the orange flames. People were standing in the parking lots staring across at the scene. Everyone knows it can happen any time, any where, up here. And depending on how strong the famous Gorge winds are, a fire can become a very big deal very quickly.

By the time we got home, around 3:30 pm, the helicopters were out, making big sweeping passes to drop water on the flames, then right by the deck and down to the river to scoop up more. It sounded like a MASH set. Fortunately the winds died down as the day went on, and by evening it was pretty still. When we went to bed, firefighters were working to contain the now 150 acre fire that had consumed 4 homes plus one vacant house. People in Cook and Underwood were being evacuated. But officials were hopeful that by today, things would be under control. No big winds forecast until Saturday. They'd dug fire breaks, and there was a river and a road for it to cross, if it managed to go over the side of the mountain, before it got to our hill.

This morning things looked a little better. They said it was 40% contained. The planes were out dumping fire retardant, since the lack of wind made this tactic effective today. There were some awesome photos in the online edition of the Oregonian, though the most spectacular was miscaptioned, claiming the fire was 'on White Salmon, WA'. It was NEAR White Salmon, WA, the closest town to the fire. I had to fire off an email to my sister who is coming to visit tonight from Yamhill County, letting her know she should still come.

Just a little reminder that we are not as in control of our lives as we think we are. One spark, dry brush, big winds and a mountainside goes up in flames. It consumes whatever is in its way. Our wireless relay is on top of that mountain, so we had no internet most of the day. NPR was knocked out because it's relayed from there as well. Our phone is VOIP, so it was out. Officials warned cell phone reception would be spotty. The power stayed on, fortunately. And we were able to watch the news (satellite). We were much luckier than the 60 families who had to pack and leave, just across the way. Sure helps put things in perspective. I barely gave the baseball scores a thought yesterday.