Effects from the Wallow Wildfires in Arizona

[billeyler]

A massive forest fire in far eastern Arizona is raging. The winds have been from the south and southwest for several days. Last night was evening 2 of acrid smoke layering itself over Albuquerque, 240 miles away from the fire. It's not nice at all out there. The smell in the air is thick with that sour smell of the death of trees.

After the winds calmed down, the inversion layer set in and the smoke is just...here.

Bicycling is definitely out of the question. Swamp coolers are off. Windows are closed.

This morning, I awoke to a pink-red haze from the smoke. Don't know if pics can capture any of it. You have to combine it with the odd denseness of the air and the sad stench. Zoomed pics from the deck.



Looking over the garage roof, normally the Sandia Mountains are crystal-clear. Just between the phone/power cables you can barely make out the outline of the mountains.



That being said, looking down at part of the garden shows health and vibrancy. But time to go back in, otherwise I'd have to put on a face mask!

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Hope you do have masks of you have to go outside. Fires are so scary, just consuming the land and everything in front of them. I know it's part of a cycle ... but, may they be gotten under control soon ...

Be safe!

HUGS!

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

My dear friend Tim, was a National Park Ranger and also a photographer for the Parks Service. He often bemoaned the fact that the 'management' of the forest was actually making fires worse. I'm sure if he was still with us, he'd have had some strong opinions about the slew of fires we're seeing these days.

But you are right of course - fire is part of a very long cycle of renewnal. Most of us will not live long enough to see a forest fire actually heal itself and produce a new abundance. The evidence of old fires, and the signs of renewed growth, put our own short lives in perspective somehow. I can recall walking through redwoods on the west coast, and coming upon some burned out patch that was just reviving, and thinking - these trees live up to 700 years; they'll see all that regeneration around them, while in the life of a man, it will appear like a permanent scar.