hafoc | The Guard is Here V 2.0

Thursday I took a look out the office window, and then looked again. It looked like the big particleboard plant south of us had started their furnace without the control devices on again-- and they swore up and down to me that they didn't, couldn't, wouldn't do that ever again.

So I got in the truck and headed down there. But I hadn't gone far before I saw that the smoke was much bigger and much further away than I had thought. Something really big, way south of town.

This is our fire season. One reason is that nobody EXPECTS it to be our fire season. Why should Spring, when the ground is still wet with melted snow, when you get rain, be so dangerous for fire? But all last year's vegetation is dead and dry. The new green stuff hasn't started up yet.

So Forest Fire Division, the State Police, and all the media get the word out. We've got another Red Flag Alert (yet another thing to be scared of, and let's attach a catchy name to it). No burning. No burn permits. Campfires prohibited outside of stone or metal fire circles. Etc etc now and forever amen.

Apparently, though, nobody told the National Guard that it was also not a good idea to conduct artillery practice at this time. So "The Range" burned up. Again.