Smokey Once Again

The Rim Fire I talked about yesterday went from 53,866 acres yesterday to 102,500 acres this morning. That is twice the size of San Francisco, just for a comparison. It is now threatening 4500 homes and evacuations have begun.

A guy at Cal Fire showed a graph of the smoke plume as it was yesterday. It had risen to 42,000 feet and he said the only one he's seen that was higher was a fire in the Los Angeles area that rose over 50,000 feet. 

Here's a couple photos as I drove out the driveway this morning.

The sun  just peaking trough.

A little further (actually just around the corner) at tree level.

Another shot at tree level

There was a guy from NASA on the news yesterday too and he likened the fire to a pot boiling on the stove. With the lid on the pot, it holds the smoke down and with the down drafts, causes the smokey air where we live. By the way, if you get further down hill (like Jackson), the Delta Breeze keeps the smoke pushed up against the mountains and the air is clear, there.

Back to the NASA guy, if you remove the lid from the pot (about Noon time) the smoke then rises and smoke plume grows and the air here clears, like it did yesterday about 2:00 pm.

The fire is still only 2% contained and if it doubled overnight, there is no telling what it will do this night. Cal Fire has 1800 men on the line, most of them working 24 hour shifts.

You've got to love these guys and when I frequented bars in the past, I never saw one of them ever buy a beer. They are certainly hero's in their own right. 

I'll keep you updated. Now I have to go take a couple Tylenol because the smoke is giving me a headache.

Mark