Fire close to home

There is a new fire in the Jemez Mountains, about 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos. The photos above were taken by a friend from church this afternoon on Baranca Road (thanks for sharing this, Craig!) The first was taken earlier, and the second around 4:00 this afternoon.) Apparently it has grown in our 30 mph winds to about 500 acres, and is 0% contained. It is moving easterly towards the Valle Caldera area. Route 4 through the Jemez has been closed at Jemez Falls.  Here in White Rock, it is a dark afternoon.  There are no clouds in the sky, but there is a growing and darkening plume of smoke blotting out the sun.  The two photos below are from my back yard, and are not clouds, but the smoke.

 The best way to describe the smell is imagine standing in the middle of a camp fire.  That's what it is like here at the moment.  We have closed all the windows (despite the 90 degree plus temperatures) and turned off the evaporative cooler (which pulls in air from outside), and that has helped my eyes to stop burning so much.  Below, you can see the ash and burned pine needles that are falling on my back porch.  It's kind of like snow when you walk outside.

About 10 years ago, Los Alamos survived a raging forest fire that destroyed 400 homes and changed the face of these mountains for our lifetime.  I have a real sadness thinking about Las Conchas- our favorite hiking spot in the mountains- burning.  Not to mention that people are being evacuated from their homes as we speak, and fire fighters on the ground and in the air are putting their lives on the line to fight this blaze.  Please be in prayer, Gentle Readers, for safety and for rain!