poplar road

Thanks for the update - I have really been wondering what's going over there as I have subscribed to the BC Forest Fire Twitter feed (loving Twitter for things like this). I'm sure the smoke you're getting is nasty, not to mention ash, water bombers...etc. Keep me posted, girl. I'm thinking of you both!

Thanks WC. We're short of information here too, which makes us more anxious than perhaps we need to be, when you look out the window and the smoke is so thick you can't see anything across the river and it's hard to breathe outside. When we crawled into bed last night for yet another restless night I had to ask Richard, was there any chance that the fire could cross the 8km between us and it by morning without anyone warning us? I knew the answer but hearing him say "no" was the only way I was going to get any sleep.

I've been checking that wildfires website hourly all day hoping for updates but nothing so far. It's very frustrating. But I just couldn't bring myself to stay an extra hour and a half in town after my 2nd job today to sit through another community meeting, not on so little sleep. Why don't they hold these things locally for goodness sake instead of making us drive all that way? Or update their websites a little more regularly!

But really, we just have to be patient and trust that the fire fighters are making progress. It's the evacuated friends and neighbours we should be worried for. We're lucky.

Anita & Rick - thx so much for the blog! We are getting better info from you than the local news & whats on the internet. Our hearts go out to you. Even though we are Very concerned for your situation - we know you'll be safe & come out of this stronger.
Don't hesitate to let us know if we can help out in any way.
Luv & hugs.....................Mommsie

Bev, thanks for suggesting I do this. We've been so stressed, it didn't even occur to me I could keep people informed this way, even though I've been at the computer every hour all weekend, seeking more detail on the fires all around us. Just hearing from everyone makes us feel so much better.

There's a red glow on the horizon tonight, after the winds picked up again and cleared some of the smoke away this evening. But no increase in the size of the fire since Saturday, and no lightning, so we're cautiously optimistic. More tomorrow night.

It's just after 6 and a massive thunderstorm with wind, rain (not enough!) and forked lightning is hitting us right over the hills where the fires are. I can only hope no new fires start from the strikes, and that even this little bit of rain helps the fire fighters somewhat. If only we could get a good torrential Vancouver-style downpour for a day or two! A power outage would also not be good right now - a frequent reality here when the winds pick up like this.

The storm is passing already, but I doubt the rain it brought did any good. The fire grew today, to 2,000 hectares as of 5pm, and the Paxton Valley area that was on alert southeast of the fire has been evacuated. That's in the opposite direction from us, but it means the fire is spreading on the heavily wooded, rocky slopes of the mountain on the same side of the ridge as the Chase Creek fire (but further southwest), which worries us if it were to spread north from there. There's little firefighters can do on that kind of terrain. In size we're not in as bad a state as the people in California, but the long booming rolls of thunder and zig-zagging lightning still make us very, very nervous.

it's just after 7:30 & I have just read your blog. Ouch, double wammy with the lightning, hope the storm passes before it does any damage. It looks like rain here for the next few days, maybe you will get some also. I will let family & friends know about your blog as I am getting so many inquiries about how you guys are holding up. Will check in tomorrow before work. Sleep tight.
Luv..............mommsie

The rain didn't last long. The wildfirebc website was finally updated with the info I heard on the radio this afternoon, that the Paxton Valley folks are under evacuation or alert and the fire moved east, growing to 2000 hectares, still only 40% contained, mostly on the north and west perimeter close to homes. (Sounds huge, but for comparison, the Kelly Creek fire over by Clinton is 18,500 hectares.) No new fires from the latest lightning are listed, and with luck none materialize tomorrow. I'm happy to see the yard wetted down again, just in case. I think we'll get a better night's sleep tonight because of the rain, even if the storm ultimately didn't help. We'll see where we're at tomorrow night.

I actually subscribe to the BC Fire info Twitter feed and it's very up to date.

We had a storm go through here last night with thunder & lightning but very little rain...Supposed to cool down tomorrow, though. Today another stinking hot day (yesterday was 38C), which I am quite sick of right about now.

Keep us updated as you can! I'll let you know if I hear anything via Twitter that might pertain to you.

For instance, this just popped up in my Twitter feed a few minutes ago:

"evac order issued to 120 Pritchard residents due to Martin Mtn fire. !bout 180 firefighters are battling the blaze which is 50% contained."

thanks, WC! Your Twitter info is a summary of the posting from last night (see my link to the ministry website above). i'm relieved to see in the latest update from an hour ago, that the fire is now 80% contained, including much of the east front where fears of the fire moving fast had caused the latest evacuation on Monday. We were worried that once the fire moved back up the mountain into the wooded gullies there, it could move north and come around behind us.

Now that's not such a worry. And with the Chase Creek fire listed as 100% contained, and the rain last night having temporarily drenched fuels to give firefighters a bit of a break, I'm optimistic that we've seen the worst of the danger here.

For those interested in more detailed info, the website has a new map under Maps & Photos near the bottom of the page. Click on the link "6 files" and then open the "Aerial Photo" PDF, which is actually a topographical map of the fire perimeters since the major growth started Thursday evening. It lists the current fire size at 2177 hectares, so it grew a little more than they're officially stating, but not bad for a day that set the new record high temperature for the 2nd of September (34 degrees). This 3-month-long heat wave has got to end soon! The temperature on the campus parking lot yesterday afternoon was 39 degrees. This heat plus smoky air makes running around campus very exhausting - although today it's much, much clearer, to the west at least.

Also at the very bottom of the ministry web page are links to recent bulletins, from which a lot of the text on the main page is copied verbatim. So it's repetitious, but it sometimes has a little extra info.

If I hear anything new on the news tonight I'll do another post, otherwise, more tomorrow.

Great news! More rain fell on the fire last night and it's raining (lightly) now. The firefighters have increased the guards around the fire, and although it's only 50% contained (meaning only half the fire guards have been tested to prove they'll hold), they've got guards around 90% of the fire now.

The rain slowed things down and hopefully we'll get more significant rainfall today as was forecast last night. I'm reassured enough that I'm going to leave home as planned today for a trip to the coast to visit my nieces before the family heads back home to England.

Richard is going to hold the fort here. Friends of his, who's home is 200 feet from the fire, have been living in a hotel since they were evacuated a week ago. Their kids are young enough that all they know is they get to eat out every night and play in a pool with a slide. But the parents are understandably anxious. Richard has offered them a home-cooked meal and distraction for a night. They were told it would be another 3 to 5 days before they'll be back in their homes. We're so lucky to be far away - although the friend pointed out that the fire's length across is great than the distance we are from its northern edge. So if it doubled in size again, we'd be inside it... Thanks for pointing that out.

Still, Richard will be here, and it's raining - dark as a day in November - so I'm going. I'll be checking the website and other news while I'm away, and if there are any developments I'll try to update you - but if you don't see new info from me, check the wildfiresbc link above - that's where I'm getting the most accurate news other than the community meetings. (There's another one tonight.)

Be well, and send out positive thoughts to the firefighters and all the evacuees all across the West Coast tonight. And pray for rain.