As the Front Lines Move

An Unstable Air Mass

 

Yesterday evening the winds laid down and the world was silent. Even those under the skies were quiet. We were exhausted not just because of the winds in their ceaseless blowing but of the agitation of the people because of contradictory messaging from demagogues seeking center stage. 

The one good thing about being a big fire, the biggest fire in the United States, one which at least in part was the fault of a part of the United States, is all the big guys show up. The professionals. And one thing we owe climate change is we have gotten very good at dealing with wildfires. They have learned not just how to battle the flames but how to herd them. And make no mistake herd the people the fires are chasing. And message about it. They travel with their own dog and pony show which gives two major performances a day.

No room for those that first found the fire when it was a little thing which will be over soon they thought. And yesterday on day 34 they wanted it back. Hey, it was almost licked. Right? Wrong. And we have been worshipping at the footlights of the daily briefing of the pros. They first stringers haven't been. Some haven't even stayed in town. Some are not near the fire but form a consensus and issue a directive they did. And they have lied to us before. So when they lied to us again it seemed we checked our resources and rebelled. 

So we went from a very unstable air mass on its worst day, to a very unstable population. I personally was not going to obey anyone not with the professionals on this. I do not believe your claim you have control of huge helicopter or two. You cannot fly them in unstable air masses. You cannot delete the ready/set/go established protocol. I am not packing one single go bag in my Explorer until the right person goes back to the right steps and says get ready.

Evacuation, even if it is the right thing to do, has to be done correctly and in proper order. We learned that so shut up and leave us alone. But they didn't fast enough and rumors began flying as fast as the wind. The best was that all OUR top flight guys were being moved to Los Alamos because they have nuclear fuel in bonkers under the ground. (How that gets united by a surface wildfire is a mystery? But hysteria defiles logic.)

We had gotten to that point where foxes start chewing their legs off to get out of traps when suddenly the big guys looked up from the fire long enough to realize the Colfax County ad hoc coalition was destroying the carefully and professionally established order. The fire was four hours from our doors when the real evening briefing gave us good news. Our cars, never smaller than an SUV, were packed. And suddenly we noticed the wind had gone missing.

Fire personnel said it laid down. It is something most fires do every evening and ours had not for days, or was it weeks. Neighbors came out of their houses holding cell phones (a necessary appendage) and stood on their decks and lawns and in some cases the middle of the street as if looking for wind.

And the people were speechless. 

Note: the wind is back but not due to be unstable to close to noon we are told by those we trust to know.