We are experiencing a rough start to fire season, and I’m sad to hear the town where my in-laws lived for 5 years has been dealt a rough blow.  10,000+ people in their former community remain evacuated, and the fire isn’t close to being contained.  Ryan’s mom and step-dad moved last summer, and they remain close to many of the people there.  My kids think of that town as Grandma and Grandpa’s town, since they haven’t been to visit their new place in Arizona.

In a weird twist of fate, my dad called the police yesterday to report a bizarre incident.  Nothing seems to have come of it, thank goodness, but it is creepy.  As my dad drove home, he passed some of the Department of Forestry land, about a half-mile from their house.  They have no neighbors across the road, it’s just forestry land (beautiful redwoods, I might add).  A middle-school boy darted out of the woods with a long broomstick handle, a burning bundle of rags attached to the end.  He then immediately ran back into the woods.  Dad arrived at the house to report it through 911, but they were fortunate.  No fire started. 

Of course, this freaked me out a bit.  Northern Humboldt County land doesn’t get as dry as other parts of the state, so I tend to think of it as relatively low in fire danger, but it just hit me how much forest surrounds my childhood home.  How quickly that could be impacted by arson or childish prank gone wrong. 

In our area, grass fires have started our season off, and as I drove Matt somewhere the other day, we saw an ambulance zip past us, toward a fire just north of the freeway.  We later learned a firefighter was injured, and within the past few days, several local firefighters have been injured in the line of duty.  One local captain has severe burns, with a long recovery ahead of him.

My thoughts are with these communities, as well as those in other parts of the country dealing with flooding and tornadoes.  It’s getting too depressing to watch the news, so I think it’s time I turn the TV off.