Rainforest Fires

I know, it seems like a complete oxymoron, but indeed, we had a wildfire in Gustavus yesterday. I was spending most of the day in my office, and therefore was generally oblivious to what was going on around me, until Duane called my cell and told me he needed me to bring his work gloves and water to the fire station. I asked him why and the answer I got was: “uh… because there’s a fire?”. Ok, I should have been able to figure out what was going on, but I think considering that we live in one of the wettest places in the world this was a fair question.

When I showed up at the fire station, Justin asked if I was available for the afternoon to help out, so I sent Duane off to the fire site and I went home to grab carhartts and work boots.

Most of the fire was contained around 6 or 7 last night, but it’s still smoldering a bit out there. A bunch of us in the community are taking ½ day shifts to sit out at the fire site and monitor for any flare ups. Don’t get me wrong, we’re all loving the 70 degree and sunny weather, but we’re going to need a bit of rain here soon to make sure this thing is really dead.