We were awakened at 4:30am yesterday morning to a call from @stryeyz coworker that the evacuation map had been updated. I had slept but @stryeyz had only a couple hours over the night. The level 3 evacuation zone which means "GO NOW!" had been expanded to across the road from us. We have now been just outside the southwest tip of the zone for over 24 hours.
Our first task was to start packing and preparing to possibly have to evacuate. So many things went to the Tardis as it is away from anything that could be too hot and would likely save everything in it in case the fire made it as far as us. @stryeyz was extremely stressed by the situation, I felt a bit nervous though I have this all deeply ingrained in my brain from growing up in fire country.
It took until after 8am for the scanning plane to get up in the air and we watched it make the circle around the fire which told us the pretty exact border of the fire. It showed us that the fire had stopped the massive expansion over night and had fallen to crawl speed. The plane then went and flew around the Gray Fire that burned through Medical Lake over 185 homes.
The morning was spent inside the house, well the bulk of the day was sine we had/have the worst air quality in the world right now. The Mead and Spokane sensors were reading over 500AQI which is very hazardous. I watched ManUtd get their asses handed to them by the Spurs which doesn't bode well if they can't figure out their midfield.
By early afternoon the fire had settled in at a 6.5 mile straight line distance from the farm. The smoke was so thick around the farm the air looked like it could be cut like in the old cartoons.
This was the morning as we were working on packing. The sun barely shone through the smoke and the temperature was rather cold considering the high temps we just went through. It stayed chilly for much of the morning as the smoke blocked the sun.
The nice thing was the cold also caused an inversion which REALLY slowed the fire's growth over night.
After we had determined that the growth of the fire was slowed dramatically I tried to get to my normal routine some, but the smoke made it impossible. I managed to get a healthy load of 37 cucumbers but the squash only had 6.5 pounds.
Mid day the smoke super thick but our little bubble over the farm did a wonderful job of keeping our air cleaner. There is something about the trees, the shape of the hill, the creek tunnel, and the river valley that almost always has our air clearer than just a 1/4 mile to the west.
I had been keeping the news stream up on my monitor as I had taken the server out. I brought it back in and hooked the tv back up so we could watch the news from 4-7pm. During the broadcast they interviewed one of the boys' classmates and wrestling companion whose family lost their home and are staying at the shelter at the high school. Interstate 90 is closed in both direction west of Spokane due to the Gray fire which has caused a whole mess of traffic issues. Thankfully the 2 by us is still open.
The inversion stuck the smoke down and the entire region is engulfed in it. I spent little time outside to limit my intake of the worst air on the planet.
In the evening I was able to get tomatoes picked which was a nice 6.5 pounds.
I got dinner made but before eating @stryeyz and I went out to the road to see how bad the smoke was to the north.
The other side of the stop sign is the southwest corner of the level 3 evacuation zone... 300 feet from our property line.
UFC was on so I spent my evening watching that and I have to say I was quite happy to see ALJO lose to Omalley. The house has to stay closed up and we are running the a/c to filter the air for us which it is doing an okay job of. The fire only progressed a half mile in the last 12 hours and the temps are still nice and low with very minimal winds which should really help today.
The smoke is still super thick so I will likely have to mask up to go out and work around the farm for the next days. The fire looks to be right about 9000 acres but the slow progression now is looking really good and the forecasted rains for Tuesday will do wonders to help the air quality.
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I am glad you folks are still safe. My daughter lives in Spokane, and she said the smoke was as thick as fog. When stopped at a traffic light, it was so thick she couldn't see the next traffic light up the street. The AQI in our area was around 300 yesterday. I, too, have been staying indoors as much as possible.
I was a bit concerned until the plane made the circle of the fire and I could tell it was still a ways a way. More than half the units have been called off the fire now so it looks to be beginning containment. The smoke was so thick it reminded me of how thick the fog gets in the Central Valley in California.
Actually I think those units got called off since we have state fire called in to assist. That way we can still have local coverage in case any other fires pop up. Just my guess anyway.
In all the years we've lived here, this is the first time we've had so many big fires so close by. It's crazy.
#proofofshare
Gab
The tomatoes are very big
These are the kinds of tomatoes that I usually like...
Such a horrible morning. But grateful we are in a safe position at this point. So sad for those who have lost everything.
Glad you guys didn't have to go. But so very close....
It was a bit scary there for a while. So sad to see everyone who lost their homes.