Fire

Two weeks ago a thunder storm and tons of lightening hit our valley.  Bonnie and I sat outside the Chelan County Fairgrounds and watched bolt after bolt strike the mountains around us.  On the way home we saw one of the ridges in Dryden on fire.  That fire was small and was put out by locals but several other fires were started and they are still burning now.  Over 30,000 acres have burned so far as fires spread across Wenatchee, Cashmere, Leavenworth, and Cle Elum.

Some of our friends are on Level 2 evacuation status which means if the fires get any closer they will have to leave their homes.  Fortunately, no homes have been lost yet.  Here in Leavenworth near the fish hatchery, helicopters have set up camp to fly in and out of the fire dropping water on the fires.

Can you see the copter?  The air quality is quite bad around here.  Today was the worst yet.  We could not see any of the mountains around us due to the smoke.  Todd tried to run this morning but ended up gagging on the particles that are in the air.  In fact, several people have taken to wearing face masks.

Even someone put a face mask on Skookum. lol  I haven't been bothered by the smoke. In fact, Todd still keeps the windows open at night but others, especially those with asthma, are really struggling.  More dry thunderstorms are in the forecast for this weekend.  That would not be good if we get more lightening.  What we really needs is some rain.