We are in a heat wave of which we haven’t seen for a number of years. Save for last week, we’re talking one month’s worth of 92+ temperatures, in a mountainous area that usually hovers in the 80’s most of the summer besides literally a handful of scattered hot days. And there’s no end in sight.

 

I have been taking refuge at the home of various friends being that I get heat exhaustion just looking at the temperature gauge. Sigh. The animals are hunkered down trying their best to stay cool. The one saving grace about our area is the cool nights- in the 50’s. Without those we all would be worse off yet.

 

Fire danger levels are at “high”, at least one month earlier than normal. The conditions are drier than normal too. All of this leads to, you guessed it, fire. I’m sure you all have heard about the horrible fires our evergreen state has been suffering through. Other than spot fires from lighting strikes our county has been spared. Although the smoke from the Carlton Complex fire (which is still only 60+% contained as of today) caused great discomfort and health concerns for our county and the entire region east of it, for the most part that has diminished, thankfully.

 

We are constantly aware of the smell or appearance of smoke, have firefighting tools on hand, our plan formulated, fuel in the vehicles and gear ready to evacuate quickly if need be.