Wrongside Up Larry

Day 322: Okay, okay...I admit it. I'm being unduly hard on Wrongside Up Larry. In fact, I even assigned him to the wrong agency. He really is a nice guy, and he's with the U.S. Forest Service. He's from Pennsylvania, and his tour of duty here is almost up. His preference for upside-down maps was backed up today by Fred, a USFS Safety Officer who also prefers to orient his map to the terrain. As I said yesterday, the camps are just about equally divided on this subject, and I just happen to be in the one which allows you to read the text without having to keep flipping the paper copy around.

They haven't done an infrared flight since before our windstorm, so the estimate of involved acreage still stands at 275. That said, those of us who have been watching the fire on a daily basis can see that it has progressed into the next drainage to the south. This is exactly what they want it to do: burn across the inaccessible terrain until it reaches an established firebreak where it can be managed. While you might think that they would have been happy for the recent rain and high humidity, the opposite is true. Rain and humidity aren't enough to put it out, and are only acting to keep it burning without allowing it to advance toward their dozer lines. I'm learning a lot about fire management from talking to these men, and that includes Larry, even if we do disagree about maps.

Moving Up Stahl

Day 321, Fire Update: Wrongside Up Larry from DNR was back today, fortunately accompanied by David, a more communicative representative of USFS who, when he saw me trying to configure my head to the upside-down map, provided me with a hand-held copy he retrieved from his truck. He said, "It's about 50-50," referring to the number of people who want the map oriented to the terrain instead of "north up." I think a poll by profession would show that about 50% work in map-dependent fields. Larry, for all of his current employment, clearly belongs in the other half.

The fire has not increased in acreage since yesterday, despite the strong winds which kept fire crews in camp all day yesterday. It was simply too dangerous to be in the field. David explained that during an on-site discussion of potential hazards, a gust passed through and took down forty or fifty fire-damaged trees in one great crash, effectively ending any debate. Three-quarters of an inch of rain has at least cleared some of the particulates out of the air, but the fire continues to advance along the ground, leaving burned-out zones behind it. One professional projection says that it is likely to increase to 700-800 acres before it reaches a line where it can be controlled. Wrongside Up Larry said, "Maybe even 4000." Of course his credibility is somewhat suspect as far as I am concerned.

For now, the fire is creeping slowly up the side of Stahl Mtn. (photo) and southeast toward Pleasant Valley. One new hot spot has been reported on the western flank.

Better Communications

Day 318: Larry, the DNR mouthpiece mentioned in yesterday's post, was replaced today by Doug (DNR) and Mark (USFS), a wisecracking pair who were more informative than their predecessor, if not addressing me in quite the same "kindred spirit" as Christian had done. After a greeting from Mark of, "Hi, ma'am! Are you local?" to which I responded immediately with a laughing, "I sure wish you guys would turn that map 'north up,'" we got along famously. Mark responded to my complaint with a chuckle, "Yeah, I noticed that, too. I don't know why they did that," and went directly to the map, removing it from its staples and turning it up into the proper orientation. "Thank you!" I said. "I was getting sick to my stomach looking at it upside-down." "Me too," he agreed. I knew I was going to like this pair based entirely on that initial contact.

The men confirmed what I already knew: the fire grew by over fifty acres overnight, now at 225 and spreading steadily to the southeast and up the northeast flank of Stahl Mtn. The residents of Pleasant Valley have been put on Level 1 evacuation alert, a "get ready" status in case the smoke reaches hazardous concentrations or the fire spreads more quickly than anticipated. Level 2 would mean voluntary evacuation to a shelter or to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Level 3 means mandatory evacuation. The town of Morton is currently prepared to shelter evacuees under either Level 2 or Level 3 alerts. There is less of an inversion today, so the breathability of the air here at home is substantially improved from last night when I was hacking and coughing every few minutes. As I have told friends, I will evacuate either when forced to by a Level 3 alert, or when breathing becomes too difficult.

In other news, we have heavy rain in our forecast starting Friday. This could be good for the fire, but bad with respect to the potential for creating debris flows like the one we had on Tahoma Creek just two weeks ago or flooding on major rivers. Fire, earthquake, debris flow, the possibility of flood...what's next? Foes or famine? Or maybe a plague of locusts? Seems we're running the whole gamut.