On my way home (I was at my nephew's wedding) the road through one of the burned out areas was open, so I came home that way. It was pretty sad to see the devastation. In this fire 30 homes were burned, and as I got to the edge of the fire I could see the first one- looked like it was an auto scrapyard, all burned. There were several areas where a home was burned but one only a short distance away was untouched.
In one area, irrigation pipe had done it's job, the ditch was burned but the field untouched.
You can just see the irrigation line at the top of the photo
Just down the road, there was another field with the pipe laid out but not connected... all burned.
I thought this was odd, the post burned but the rails intact and the fire didn't reach the house in the background.
The smoke was unbelievable, my eyes were stinging the whole drive.
Here at home, the smoke is just as thick, although the local fires are somewhat contained. The one north of is is 90 % contained, and they have 5 heavy helicopters working steadily on it- I can hear them as I type this.
You can barely see the helicopter through the smoke.
The round pen stands empty, and will remain so until the smoke lifts- and maybe for a while after that. My lungs are compromised by this smoke, and I'm not willing to risk my horse's long term health by working them in this.
I did work Josie yesterday, but I won't work her again for a while. We did a lot of sacking out, and while we made progress, she is still quite flighty.
She is getting better at facing up, but I am having trouble getting inside turns for change of direction. All that will have to wait, especially after I read this article from the U of C Davis on horse respiratory health.
6 comments:
Oh that smoke, it must be terrible! We had a fire her a little over a year ago that took 57 homes and came within a kilometre or so of us, then turned away towards my sister's place. It was finally stopped in the paddock across the road from her and they had to evacuate horses, pets, kids for a few days until it was safe to return. Scary. Sending good vibes for heaps of lovely rain for you very soon.
Glad you're not in immediate danger from the fires, but sorry you have to cope with all that smoke - it looks very bad and unpleasant.
Oh my, that is not a good situation to be in. I sure hope you and the horses don't have to many problems with the smoke. Stay safe, and it is so sad to have to witness the devastation.
Thanks for the pictures. We're also experiencing dangerous smoke levels. We've had fires near us (a mile or so away), but they seem to get them under control quickly since they're so close to the city. Last Friday night the smoke was so bad they said it was the worst air quality since Mt. St. Helens erupted. Our daughter's wedding was on Saturday and it had miraculously cleared. It was back again on Sunday. Like you, I'm not working my horses in it.
The smoke is hard on animals and people. We have smoke in the air here too you can smell it but it isn't near as bad as your smoke. Take Care! :)
Stay safe!
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