RHH's photos with the keyword: wildfire

There are several reasons for posting this photo, taken from the top of Booth Hill, the highest point in our area at 898 meters. The first reason has to do with the wildfire, the Gray Fire, that destroyed so many acres and homes here recently. The facility in the foreground is Lakeland Village, a residential home for handicapped persons and the place our son lives. The fire, as is evident from the photo, burned right up to Lakeland, but the firefighters managed to prevent the fire from burning any of the buildings on the grounds. The fire then burned to the left of the photo and into the city of Medical Lake destroying many homes. The second reason for posting this is that we learned in connection with the fire that buildings at the top of the hill, almost all of which were destroyed by the fire, were part of an old Nike surface-to-air missile site, built during the Cold War. The missiles were sited there to protect nearby Fairchild Air Force Base, still operational and for that reason the ill is also known as Nike Hill. Though the site has long been abandoned by the military, the buildings were still in use by the family that owned the property and used it to restore and sell old cars.

This hill, known as Booth Hill or Nike Hill, is the highest point in our area. The wildfire that swept through the area recently, the Gray Fire, started in the wheat fields to the southwest of the hill, burned up over the hill and headed for Lakeland Village, a facility for handicapped persons. The firefighters saved Lakeland, but the fire went around it and burned to the northeast into the city of Medical Lake where nearly 200 homes were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the communications towers, a junkyard of old cars and te buildings at the top of Booth Hill, though by the time this photo was taken the communications facilities had already been rebuilt.

Several weeks after the Gray Fire, the wildfire that burned 10,000 acres and 200 homes in our area, we went for a ride to see some of the damage. I found the things we saw so depressing I did not take many photos, but this was one of the few I did take, a burned home in the city of Medical Lake, near where we live.

This home in the city of Medical Lake was saved by the firefighters, but the vinyl siding melted from the heat of the burning home across the street. The fire did strange things, often burning a home between two others or only burning one home in a block.

This is what much of our area looks like at present. All the trees in the photo are dead and many have been cut down, though now, several weeks after the fire, the grass is already starting to grow again. The Gray Fire burned 10,000 acres (over 4000 hectares) and destroyed 200 homes. Many of the homes are already being rebuilt, but the trees, thousands of them, will not soon grow back, and our area will not be the same in our lifetimes. Driving through the area is rather depressing. Though the firefighters are gone, there is still a lot of activity. The utility company is replacing many power poles that were destroyed or damaged and many trees are being cut down, especially those that are near roads. Thousands more trees are dead or dying from the fire, and if they are not cut down will fall in the next few years, making a further fire hazard, This photo is typical of what we see when we drive the roads near our home.

I've posted some other photos of the wildfire that ravaged our area, burning 10,000 acres and over 200 homes. Our own was spared as was the facility where our son lives, but the area will not be the same in our lifetimes. This photo was taken at Booth Hill near the fire's origin and shows how hot the fire was, melting metal on some of the old cars that were on the hill.

This photo was taken by my wife last Thursday morning. It shows the burned area between our home and the neighbors behind us. The mist is partly smoke from hot spots, which are still being monitored by the fire crews in the area, more than 600 at the last count. They are not only monitoring areas which are still smoking, but cutting down trees that are threatening roads and power lines, and excavating fire lanes through the burned areas. A number of homes in our area burned, but the firefighters, our heroes, saved most of them. The enclosed area on the left is my vegetable garden which did not suffer from the fire and which we are trying to keep up with. We have it enclosed to keep the deer out. They eat everything otherwise and can be a huge nuisance. We harvested the garden the Monday we were first home again after being evacuated and have harvested it several times since. We canned fourteen quarts of salsa, seven quarts of vegetable soup and five quarts of marinara sauce the last few days and have peppers and cucumbers to do yet..

This the north end of the lake near which we live. The effects of the recent fire can be seen in the trees and burned vegetation on the cliffs in the foreground.

Taken Friday, this is a photo of what is now called the Gray Fire (it started near Gray Road in the area of the photograph). At this point the fire was to the west of us and we thought we were safe, but after burning past the facility where our handicapped son lives and leaving the facility miraculously untouched, the fire burned to the northeast and into the town of Medical Lake destroying 185 homes. At that point the wind changed and the fire began to burn to the east, jumping two lakes and burning many more homes (52 of 60 near Silver Lake). When the fire reached the interstate highway, I90, it turned southwest heading in our direction and we were ordered to evacuate. We stayed Friday and Saturday evening at our church's apartment and returned home last night, though most of our neighbors have stayed away. The fire burned right up to our back fence as the PIP shows (it was taken yesterday), but the firefighters, our heroes, managed to establish a line there and our house and the houses of our neighbors were spared. The report is that three homes in our area did burn, but most were saved though the fire burned all the land around the homes. The interstate highway is still closed as are many other roads in our area and the worry is now that looters will move in, one of the reasons we came home and are watching the homes of our neighbors. It is also very smoky still in our area, but we are keeping windows closed and it is tolerable in the house.

This was our backyard Saturday evening when I managed to get home and get a few more things from our house. The photo is of our back fence and garden and shows how close the fire came. Our home and the homes of our immediate neighbors were spared though three homes in the area did burn. These firefighters, many of whom had not slept for several days, are our heroes, and are the ones who saved our homes and the homes of our neighbors. We cannot thank them enough. This was the only photo I took on World Photography Day for obvious reasons. We were thinking of other things besides photography that day. It is not the greatest photo, but certainly encapsulates the day for us, when we came as close as ever we have come to losing our home and possessions. The fire is now out in our area and we are getting some rain for the first time in three months, so our situation has improved dramatically since the photo was taken.

We had an exciting day yesterday. We have been very hot and dry (no rain for three months) and have been worried about fires. Noticed smoke to the west and north of us and went to find out what was happening. A wildfire had started on the west side of Booth Hill, shown in the PIP, and burned up and over the hill, burning the cell phone towers and communications facilities on the hill as well. When I first saw the fire it was burning down the hills toward the facility where our handicapped son lives. I could not access the facility but was assured by a policeman that the facility was being evacuated and went way around through the town of Medical Lake to find where our son was. In the town discovered that winds had whipped up the fire and it was already on the outskirts of town. The fire burned part of the town of Medical Lake and many home and other structures to the east. The facility where our son lives was spared and no one was injured there. Our home and the neighborhood we live in were also spared, but at least one person has died in the fire and many are displaced or now homeless. The Interstate, I90, is closed and so are the roads in our area. After finding and speaking to our son at another facility, Eastern State Hospital, where he had been evacuated, I went around to the west and south of the fire and arrived back home only to discover that we were under and evacuation order and had to get out. We already had some things ready to go, loaded the car and are now in Spokane waiting to get back home, who knows when. An update: The fire is now very near our home on the east and north and we do not know if the house will survive. We are all safe and waiting to find out if anything will be left. 185 homes burned in the town to our north. The interstate highway is still closed for about 25 miles and all the roads in our area are closed, so there is no possibility of getting near our home or to the facility where our son lives.

We had an exciting day yesterday. We have been very hot and dry (no rain for three months) and have been worried about fires. Noticed smoke to the west and north of us and went to find out what was happening. A wildfire had started on the west side of Booth Hill, shown here and burned up and over the hill, burning the cell phone tower and communications facility on the hill as well. When I first saw the fire it was burning down the hills toward the facility where our handicapped son lives. I could not access the facility but was assured by a policeman that the facility was being evacuated and went way around through the town of Medical Lake to find where our son was. In the town discovered that winds had whipped up the fire and it was already on the outskirts of town, After finding and speaking to our son at another facility, Eastern State Hospital, where he had been evacuated, I went around to the west and south of the fire and arrived back home only to discover that we were under and evacuation order and had to get out. We already had some things ready to go, loaded the car and are now in Spokane waiting to get back home, who knows when. The fire burned part of the town of Medical Lake and many home and other structures to the east. The facility where our son lives was spared and no one was injured there. Our home and the neighborhood we live in were also spared, but at least one person has died in the fire and many are displaced or now homeless. The Interstate Highway, I90 is closed and so are the roads in our area.

I've posted other photos of this wildfire in Banff National Park in Alberta, but we are getting close to that season again and are wondering what it will bring for us and for the Northwest. We had two fires within a mile or two of our house and several others, more serious, in our area last summer. In fact, the last few years have seen fires all over the Pacific Northwest and it seems sometimes that the whole area is burning. Hotter, drier summers have brought this increase and it is likely to continue. I have to work on a firebreak around our property, removing some dead trees and a lot of brush this summer and these photos are certainly a reminder of the work I have to do. The photos were taken as we were driving up through Banff to Jasper on a 2014 trip through the Canadian Rockies. We noticed smoke near Saskatchewan Crossing along Highway 11 and decided to investigate. At first we only saw some small fires in the distance and helicopters with buckets fighting the fire. As we were taking photos, however, the wind kicked up and suddenly the fire was near the road and we could feel its heat. We decided we had better get out and as we did several cars and motorcycles that had passed us returned and the people who were fighting the fire had come and were closing the road. This fire, known as the Spreading Creek Wildfire, was started by a lightning strike and burned for over two weeks. It scorched nearly 9000 hectares of forest and was made worse by winds and dry weather. It was only one of many wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon and California that year. Indeed, there were times when the fires were so bad that the air quality deteriorated to the point that masks or staying indoors with windows shut were necessary. It seemed at times that sore throats from the poor air quality were a matter of course and only the autumn rains and cooler weather brought relief.

This was the view behind us as we drove back up Highway 11 in Banff after driving down it to watch a wildfire near Saskatchewan crossing. We were in the Canadian Rockies on a 2014 trip through several of the parks and had stopped to watch this fire when the fire came close to the road and forced us to leave very quickly.

This helicopter was fighting photographed in 2014 near Saskatchewan crossing fighting a wildfire in that area, dipping water out of the North Saskatchewan River and dumping it on hot spots. We had to leave the area shortly after the photo was taken when the fire kicked up and approached the road we were on. The photo was taken by my wife.

This was what we witnessed in 2014 when the wildfire in Banff near Saskatchewan Crossing approached the road we were on and forced us to get out of the area. We had driven down Highway 11 to watch the fire but that did not last long and when the fire came near the road we had to get out quickly. At this point we could feel the heat of the fire.

When we drove down Highway 11 in Banff National Park in Alberta in 2014 to watch a wildfire there, this is what we first saw. The fire seemed to be under control and far from the road. There was little flame, though a lot of smoke, and helicopters were dipping water out of the river and dumping it on hot spots. When the wind came up, however, the fire roared back to life and was soon near the road forcing us to leave.

When we came through Kootenay, Banff and Jasper in 2014 this is what we found at Saskatchewan Crossing in Banff and this is what I wrote at that time: "We had stopped to photograph the helicopters involved in fighting the fire which was not even visible away from the road when two motorcyclists roared by us. As they disappeared into the distance the wind kicked up the fire and suddenly it was near enough the road that we could feel its heat. With the fire so close and firefighters suddenly rushing around we knew our curiosity had no place there and prepared to drive away. As we did several cars and the motorcyclists came tearing back out of the smoke and one motorcyclist stopped and looked back as if to say 'that was a very close call.' My wife continued to snap photos as we left the fire behind us the firefighters barricaded and closed the road." I've posted these photos now since tomorrow I want to post some photos of the same area more than four years later.