The Watermelon Hill Fire

I woke up about 5 AM to hear rain drops on the roof of Auntie Violet. We had a gentle rain that lasted about four hours. From the comments on Facebook, there was rain over most of eastern Washington. The moisture was badly needed, especially by those fighting the firestorms in central Washington. Closer to us, the Watermelon Hill Fire, close to Fish Trap Lake was declared out.

We took a drive out of Cheney for about a twenty-five, thirty mile loop this afternoon to take a look at some of the fire damage. This part of the country is mostly grassland and pine trees with lots of scrub bushes. The grass is extremely dry and the fire danger is listed as a "3", which is the highest. The big firestorm in central Washington was caused by several lightening strikes which have merged into one big fire. This fire was started by a couple of yahoos who were target shooting using explosive targets!

This is one end of Amber Lake. The fire burned up to the shore on the far side --

The fire skipped and jumped, burning some trees and leaving the next...

It burned over the top of this hill and into the wheat field --

It looks like it burned pretty fast through some of the draws. These trees may actually survive.

In the loop we made, we saw at least a half dozen fire and water trucks stationed at intervals, watching the burned over ground. They were keeping an eye on hot spots like this one, making sure they did not flare up again.

By late this afternoon, the sun was back out and it warmed up again. We made a stop in Cheney on our way back to Ponderosa Falls. We went to ACE Hardware and found a two-step stool that we can use to lift a carrier on Toad II, one that I can sit on as well. We also made a grocery stop, which meant I could do my usual whining about bringing everything inside and putting it away.