Photo by C. DeSainThese are what the charred remains of our friend's cabin look like. You can see the poured concrete porch supports, a burnt appliance, and the curled sheets from her (fire-retardant!) metal roof. An entire home reduced to 24" of ash.
This fire has been acting very strangely, and it has been throwing fire balls that jump from here to there. This cabin is a perfect example: as you can see from the picture, the trees between the cabin and the lake were untouched while the cabin was obliterated.
For some reason, this particular fire REALLY freaked me out when it started, and I've been trying to analyze that. Tom's made a good point: that I'm probably more bothered now that we live out in the middle of - for some intents - NOWHERE and that wildfires are a REAL threat up here. That's one of the reasons we built a stone house with a zinc roof. Tuesday night, visiting with the friend that lost her cabin and another whose cabin is (as of then) still un-touched, we all did come to the realization and acceptance that we do LIVE IN A FOREST, and - in forests - fires need to happen in order to keep the ecosystem healthy. So, it's a Catch 22.
When expressing my worry, a girlfriend didn't understand - asking, "Isn't it quite far from where you are?" Yes. But, here's the thing: the way this fire's been acting, if the winds were to shift and come directly out of the west, it could - conceivably - be to us in two days. That's reality. And, having such a big fire so early in the season is only a harbinger of what's to come during this drought. Hence the worry.
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