Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Two hours after we left Cashmere on July 30th, a smoldering grassfire broke out across the county road.  It leapt the road, and raced up the property.  It hit a tool storage shed (that had gasoline in it), melting everything except several metal tools (handles gone, of course), then roared up Burch Mountain, circled back down toward the county road.  In the end, the fire consumed over 1700 acres of grass, poplars, aspen, a tool storage shed, numerous power poles, a freight container filled with building materials, and lots and lots of grass.

One week later, Sage and Annie leapt out of the car to a moonscape.  Of course, the fire is and will be good for the ecology of the area, but it is still jarring to see.  Annie celebrated by rolling in the charcoal fields going in as a yellow lab and emerging as a black one!

The young firefighters from the US Forest Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, BLM, and the Cashmere Fire Department were amazing.  These kinds of fires are very tricky and they managed to save all the homes, most of the structures, and all of the livestock.  To understand how treacherous these fires can be read Norman MacLean's Young Men and Fire.  Thankfully, no one was injured or killed.

Murphy's Day.