Saratoga Springs Fire

So, the kids come home for lunch from playing with their friends and say,

"Mom, did you know there's a fire?"

We walked out to our porch and immediately saw the smoke, 

blackened hillsides, and helicopters dropping water.  

Needless to say, I don't think I've ever seen the kids eat so quickly, 

because I told them that after we eat

we'll go over to the school and watch the firemen and helicopters work.

So, we brought out the binoculars, Porter's monocular, and some water...

And we watched the spreading fire.

It was amazing and scary all at the same time.  

Fire really spreads fast!

The helicopters would drop water and go pick more up.

One water bucket line was longer than the other so it can get lower into the canyons on the other side of the mountains.

And all kinds of fire trucks were working on the fire closest to the city.

We could see the big water tank truck.

It hits home to us because we've made trips to the fire department here in Saratoga Springs and gotten to know the firefighters and see all their big trucks.

We even saw the firemen shoot off flares to start a controlled fire to keep the existing one in line.

Soooo... we are eager to be hearing more control of this fire.

Through the night, the glow continued on the hillside.

And firemen slept in sleeping bags on the road/rocks.

All the while, we wish we could go help put out the fire, bring them water to drink, and just tell them we appreciate them.

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Also close to home, Dane's dad is firefighter in the mountains of Washington state.  

We've seen their tanker, firetruck, and firefighting clothes.

We know they have to be able to walk fast while wearing all those clothes.

(Now we know why!)

We love to hear the stories that Grandpa (Dad) shares with us 

about his experiences fighting fires up there.

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This morning, the hillside is covered in smoke.

The neighborhood is dusted with ashes.  

We hear the helicopters working out in the sky.

And we've heard it's closer to Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs 

AND a company that deals in explosives.  (Not. Good.)

When Dane left for work this morning, he called and said that the fire department is camped out at Neptune Park. 

Fun for us, the fire dept. is camping just around the corner from our house!  

I'm not sure whether that makes me feel safe or not...  :)

I went to go take a picture or two.  Here is their base camp!

I saw a couple of firefighters and felt brave enough to go ask if they need any help.

(I had visions of water and muffins going through my head.)

And to ask what the procedure is if there's an evacuation.

They happened to be waiting for a repair guy to show up and fix their blown out tire on their brush fire trucks.  They were very willing to answer my questions and appreciated the desire to help.

(They had gatorade and pizza delivered.)

While we were chatting, the wind must've changed directions because a giant column of dark smoke started up in the sky.  It covered the sun and made it look RED. 

(Chills down my back.)

And this column wasn't small... it was big.  

Their comment, "Looks like we'll be here for a few days."

Keep up the fight, Saratoga Springs & Eagle Mountain firefighters.