With Humble Gratitude

Here in the upper part of the Pacific Northwest, our skies are beginning to clear from the acrid smoke that had settled in from the wildfires that threatened to consume our State. We are not out of the woods yet, so to speak. Fire season is still a major factor in our daily lives and not all the fires are contained.

The losses are too numerous to count. Evacuated livestock had been trucked to fairgrounds, arenas, and generous farm owners that had room for any extra animal. Even then, some of those critters had to be moved a second time, when the call went out that their refuge was in danger from the spreading wildfires and more evacuations needed.

The fires did not discriminate, large stands of Federal, State, big timber companies and private lands were decimated.

During the worst of the dry east winds and explosive nature of the tinder dry woods, we were in danger Level IV, essentially locking us out of the woods. Level IV is extremely dangerous for a couple of reasons. Any spark, man-made or natural like lightning, could be disastrous. Without any of the loggers in the forest, a fire could get out of control quickly.

Many do not realize that the loggers watch for fires, not just with the mandatory watch times after a site has been shut down for the day. And a fire watch does not mean only the property they are currently working on, the loggers go beyond all scope of their job title.

I personally know of half dozen whole crews that put their own lives on hold while they went with equipment and man-power to fight the fires. The owners of the companies worked right along with their crews to contain the consumptive flames during 60+ mile an hour winds and high temperatures. Many of these crews go without thanks for the grueling work they did to save our forests, homes, lives and livelihoods. It is just one of those things a logger does.

When the winds died and a sprinkle of rain came to the area, the danger dropped to Level III which now allows the loggers an opportunity to be in the woods on their own job sites for partial days. It is much safer here now that the loggers are back in the woods. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their daily work and for their tremendous firefighting efforts.

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