Noonday Heat

T-shirt and jeans? Is this the 1950s? No, he's a volunteer who was working nearby, heard the call on his radio, which is on his belt, and came straight away.

Foaming the smoldering stump, which is on the other side of that cottonwood tree.

It's so hot, and I woke up too early this morning, so I thought that I would grab a quick nap, only for the telephone to ring: "Fire at Mile Marker 22."

Up on the national forest, an illegal campfire, although extinguished, had still managed to set a stump and a cluster of saplings on fire.

A man passing by (as I understand) saw smoke, drove up the little dirt road, and attacked with a stick (!). Then three of our volunteers who live nearby got the alert and arrived with a fire extinguisher, hand tools, and buckets. A neighbor and I were the next wave, coming from about three miles away.

And then two brush trucks, ours and another department's—and a Forest Service brush truck somewhat after the fact, but they had to come 25 miles. And our sheriff and two deputies. Lots of response, but it shows how nervous we are.

An hour later I was home drinking a cold beer in front of the electric fan, thankful that I don't have to be working outdoors all day in this heat, which is about 98° F / 38° C. Extreme heat and I are not close friends.