Fire and Rain
The smoke here today wasn't as bad as yesterday's, but that was only because of the wind's direction.Instead of three separate windfires in Southeast Georgia there are now five. The biggest one, the 10,000-acre one that started when a tree blew down and hit a power pole, doubled in size in less than two hours and as of the last report, has now grown even more and become a 25,000-acre "monster," generating clouds of smoke over 8,000 feet high.
The big worry, the most important thing, according to some news reports (only one of which I bothered to link to) is not potential loss of human life or peoples' homes or livelihoods.
Nope!
It's that this particular, particularly-massive wildfire, is threatening the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refugee.
What's in the Okefenokee?
Swamp.
Yeah, there's alligators and bears and other animals living in the swamp . . . just like they have for hundreds of years and more. You think this is the first time fire has affected it or them? Not just no but, Hell, no!
I don't have any links but a few years back windfires burned well into the Okefenokee. Relatively so, anyway. The same hysterical reports were rampant except something funny happened. People who know what they're talking about went back later to see what the actual effect had been.
Except for new growth, there wasn't any.
Mama Nature's cleansing fire had cleaned out the old growth to make way for the new. Just as she'd done for hundreds of years. And more.
Da Kid's off duty tomorrow, at least after comparing calendars Herself and I think he is. Not that means much of anything right now.
Wildfire-trained and just recertified two months ago, since he's not on duty or at school tomorrow, he's on standby.
(Still no rain here. The weatherjerks are now saying maybe this weekend.)
posted by doyle at 7:41 PM
3 Comments:
It must be hard to breathe there. I'm sending good vibes so some Michigan rain will head your way.
Screw the good vibes, PJ. Just send the "Michigan rain." (Uh, I KNOW YOU know I mean that in the best possible way.) Whatever I don't use here, I'll pass along.
As for breathing, the Health Department has been putting out health advisories telling people with problems to stay inside. Me, when it's gotten thick here I stayed inside as much as possible just 'cause I ain't stoopid.
It's far worse for those closer to the fires. The fires might have been miles and miles (and miles) away, but the other day Da Kid said in addition to the smoke it almost looked like snow flurries outside his station because of the falling ash.
Today, here, was pretty clear, but overhead? That's a different story.
I was in the glades about three years after the big hurricane wiped out Homestead and whipped through the Everglades. Looked to me like it helped the Glades instead of hurting it..natures way of cleaning things up
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