I met the fire trucks on the road this afternoon as I was returning home after retrieving my extension ladder that had been borrowed. I made some calls as more sirens blew past, causing the neighbor’s sled dogs to howl in chorus. Overcome by curiosity, I ventured out onto the deck and took two of the three pics above.

Damn.

It’s early for a fire. The ground is soaking wet on the surface, and still frozen only a few inches below it. It has been a beautiful day, with a light breeze. If I had to wager a guess, it looks like a burn pile gone rogue, and it has reached the black spruce. The forest service calls those trees “gasoline on a stick”.

Planes have been flying over the cabin for hours now, dropping water & retardant onto the wild fire. There are several that are simply circling the fire, trying to get a feel for who is on the ground, and which direction this fire is going to run off to. The breeze has shifted a bit, and is at least blowing the fire across the horizon from me.

For the moment.