We were blessed with presence at the house today with Sawmill Complex Incident Commander Tom Heintz, shown above, flanked on his left by Incident Information Officer Pat McKelvey and Deputy Commander Brett Waters. These are the folks who command not only the Sawmill Gulch fire that threatens Extravaganza Headquarters, but also the Fisher Point fire and the Wyman 2 fire that, in toto, comprise over 4,900 acres (the Sawmill fire now having grown to 950 of those), none of which have any containment.
Thank you Tom, Brett and Pat for your time and your candor this morning; all of us here on the Creek really appreciated it..
Candor has its negative silver lining at times, however, and such is the case with the Sawmill fire which, now without a doubt, will burn down to Rock Creek (along as much as four miles of the Creek--its designated Maginot Line) where it will be fought on the ground by man, fire engines, pumps and hoses one ember at a time. Will it cross over the Creek into the residences (including ours) on the other side? The answer to that question depends on our Patron Saint, Mother Nature: If the fire eases itself down the hill towards us as it has been doing over the past week(s), things should be easily controllable; however, if we have a wind event and embers are blown across the Creek along with a treetop fire-line, well, that becomes another story--a story that none of us wants to read.
In the interim, we brace ourselves for the worst fire event in recent Rock Creek history but with the now effusive confidence that we are in the best hands possible--those shown above. Godspeed in your battle, our new friends.
RCR
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