A huge forest fire is blazing up near Yosemite. The fire is known as the Rim Fire. The fire covers more than 80,000 acres and is rapidly expanding.
Tonight I am saddened as my friends who live near Pine Mountain Lake had to evacuate their home. They are staying with a relative and anxiously watching the news as it unfolds.
Here is a picture that I took last fall of their beautiful home in the mountains. They have done a good job of maintaining the defensible space around their home. This is also know as firescaping and is required by law to help minimize damage in times like this.
My friends evacuated earlier when it was just a recommendation, but this evening it became mandatory that the area they live in be evacuated.
There are a lot of horse farms near their home and I also heard that earlier today they were evacuating all the horses. It takes time to move horses. It is not as simple as saying “hop in the car we are leaving.”
There is also a lot of wildlife in the area. Especially many families of deer. They will instinctively flee from the forest fire, but there is always a chance that they may get trapped in a dead end. The deer will fare much better than some of the smaller animals who cannot move as fast. Unfortunately, wildfires move very fast when they have the right mix of dry fuel.
You can see how dry it can get in the picture above. This is actually a place that is cleared out pretty well, so you really can’t see the full danger that dry underbrush poses. What really fans the flame is when there is also dry timber from fallen trees.
In this picture we see beautiful sun drenched hills across the valley from my friend’s house. Tonight, it is probably an entirely different view. Down in the valley is a small river and the fire is moving much swifter on the north-east side. These hills are probably blazing tonight, but not from the sun.
Keep my friends and all of the other residents of this area in your prayers as they anxiously await the news that the fire is under control.
Steven
p.s. You may enjoy a few other posts that I have written about this area.
Braman's Wanderings 
That looks like a beautiful place – hopefully the fires stay away.
So glad I found your blog. Love the photos.
So sad for those who lose their homes and for the animals!!! May God be with them!!!
What a beautiful place! Hopefully the home will be saved and the fires won’t cause too much damage in the area.
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The fire is still rapidly spreading. Mostly in the opposite direction, but still creeping closer. There are some fairly significant areas with less forest between them and the fire and that may help slow it down enough to be managed.
Oh my gosh, I will be anxious to hear that they are ok. I always think about wildlife in these catastrophe’s, it makes me so sad. That was a really beautiful sunset picture Steven.
Here is an update for those of you who are following the fire. The evacuation was lifted this afternoon and my friends are back home. There is still possible danger if conditions change, but for now there is no immediate danger. They are thankful for all the prayers.
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