Here's a pulled-back view that gives you a better idea of its scope.
The smoke is billowing up over the Bradshaw Mountains from a controlled burn in the Prescott National Forest south of Prescott. The Forest Service hopes, by doing these burns, to prevent an out-of-control wildfire. The forest comes right up to Prescott and could do serious damage.
A few years ago, just such a fire scared the daylights out of a lot of people in Prescott and several outlying homes were lost.
So, in spite of a certain number of people who complain about the smoke drifting into town every time there is a controlled burn, it's probably a pretty good idea.
I recently visited Yellowstone where they have fires from time to time. The ranger explained that the burned trees are called the "Standing Dead" and they prevent larger fires from spreading by depriving big fires of fuel. Nature is wonderful, but you might need some eye drops after being so close to all that smoke.
ReplyDeleteSmelly and unsightly as they are, controlled fires are good things. Just look at how uncontrolled wildfires have scorched Texas this year. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.
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We were in Alaska in 02. My husband had broken his ankle and we were at the emergency room in Homer. The nurse asked where we were from and I told her Prescott and she said, "Oh, did you know that your town is on fire?"
ReplyDeleteThat was a shocker as we hadn't heard about it.
better to be of a controlled nature than to be wild.
ReplyDeleteas for this fire, did the smoke get in your eyes?
To all - No, I was not close enough though when I was in Prescott this afternoon I rolled down the car window and sniffed and got a faint smell of smoke.
ReplyDeleteJudy - That's a horrible case of anxiety raised by the damned media, who always (usually) make things seem a lot worse than they are.
Very impressive when you don't listen to the news or don't read blogs...
ReplyDeleteThe smoke in the last photo looks like a wild fire. Must be a big controlled burn
ReplyDeleteSteve - The last picture IS a wild fire. It's from the blaze that threatened Prescott in 2002.
ReplyDeleteNot something I've ever had to think about given my climate... but if a controlled burn works then better safe than sorry.
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