Big ole’ wildfire burning in the hills behind my house. Pretty close, actually. I was off-roading out with the dogs earlier, and the ridge just ahead was crowning, but the wind was a stiff west-to-east and it couldn’t advance. Lots of smoke!
Well, we drove home, watched all kinds of aircraft doing fire suppression stuff. My kid loves that kind of stuff. They seemed to quit after the sun went down. Later, the winds have died down, and now that fire line grew pretty big and is slowly advancing down, and to the west (towards home!) What was once “out” is now a quarter-mile line of flames creeping down the mountain. Pretty awesome sight in the dark, actually. Me and the kid are intently watching it out on the deck.
But the dogs are FREAKING OUT!
I wonder if the fire is driving out all the coyotes towards us, or if they are yipping it up or something. We’re not in any real danger, I think, but the dogs seem to dispute this. Totally goin’ Ape-Shit.
I need to give them Bully Sticks and put them to bed. Do they know something I don’t?
My poor dumb Polly dog (rip) would yap at, and try to chase fireworks that were miles away. And a space x launch. And of course my poor dumb fawny dog, who really doesn’t care about such things, had to join in the yapping just because it was the cool thing to do. So maybe one of them is just yapping at something different and the rest are just trying to fit in.
Interesting idea, but out of character for The Crew. Something has them freaked.
Maybe the smoke?
I put them to bed, and they seem to have settled down. We’ll see. 4:30am is a short time from now. And only an hour after the roosters start crowing. :rolleyes:
Today, they are barking at all the low-flying aircraft. They also bark at the crows.
Silly dogs!
On a positive note, an area I take them to do their dog business is close to burning. That would eliminate the cheat grass that gets down into their ears, but might make for some dirty dogs if I let them romp around in the burn zone when it cools down.
My 2 dogs were bark, bark, barking at something on our walking trail. I thought ‘Oh, no, snake!’ Nope. It was a feather from a black bird. Dummies. They are easily alarmed.
Hope the fire is out, Gato. Stay safe.
They say about 50% contained. Looks like its heading away from the house at this point. Kinda southy, towards the river. That should put a stop to it. Maybe. Lots of fuel down there, however, and unless you are standing in it, it’s dry as a pop-corn fart all around.
You add “I think” to your assessment of not being in any real danger. They aren’t quite as mentally able to assess risk, let alone the human attempts to reduce the fire risk. A big fire is seriously dangerous for most wildlife. For them, an instinctual drive to freak out and get away makes a lot of sense. As a simple rule, it works pretty well to maximize survival odds.
“If only the crazy, bipedal pack leaders would listen to our sensible warnings and lead us out of danger!”
Coulda been! I was up on an upwind ridge today watching that helicopter put that shit out! I waved to the spotter plane at one point. I was next to the Jeep and the Black Snakes were prowling around (dogs). Did you see a beer in my hand?
Amazing piloting skill! From dropping the water, to back to the river, filling the bucket and back to another drop, they were averaging just about a minute and a half/two minutes. Unbelievable, but I watched it go down and I timed them (One Mississippi, Two Mississippi…)
Pretty much out now, but the winds are still pretty strong. Could flare up again.
They report 70% contained, but there is no smoke and I didn’t bother to go trekking out up the ridge to see it. There was one of the* Fuckin’-A Off-Road Firetrucks* rolling down the highway though. Must be some guys still out there mopping up, so to speak. No coptors or spotters in the air.
Is this the one I read about that started from sparks caused by a semi trailer that was dragging equipment down the highway? Weirdest cause of a fire I’ve ever encountered. They are calling it the 377 Fire; I guess that’s the highway number?
I hope you and yours are safe, Gato. If it’s the same one, it’s growing again today.
Oh, and yes, acrid smoke will trigger a fight or flight response in dogs. Theyll be on high alert until the next good rain takes the char down. They are anxious to get out ahead of the stampede of wildlife. And they are probably hoping to take down a few antelope or deer along the way.
Our little fire was determined to be caused by target shooters. Temp is dropping and winds are dying. It should be totally contained very soon. Hope so, because there is supposed to be a major wind event this weekend.
