Your Friday Morning Fire Report

It is hard to believe, but another week has slipped by here at Sawmill Gulch fire central and that nothing has changed much here on Rock Creek other than the slowly but surely encroaching fire moving inevitably in its mind-set march towards Rock Creek. I have attached a photo of the ridge line behind our house as, by all reports, this morning may be the last one that we see it without flames atop. The fire is that close.

The combating of this fire could have been an air war, fought by helicopters and borate bombers in a safe and intelligent manner, but it is clearly turning into a ground war--much like that that has been and is currently being so dangerously fought in other arenas. You can imagine our frustration.



So here is what we have done in the last 24 hours:

1. We have been in touch with the Montana Governor's office, our great friend, and have asked for whatever state assistance might be available--unfortunately, other than the much appreciated and already on the scene National Guard for road protection, there is none available: Thank you Hal Harper for your interest, quick response, candor and extended prayers for "no wind". Meanwhile the fire moves our way.

2. We have demanded a meeting with the Incident Commander, Tom Heintz, and, in reposonse, a small group of us will meet with him here at the house at 10:30 a.m. this morning--I hope he brings his emotional kevlar with him as yesterday (a) his information hot line didn't even know where Rock Creek was; (b) his remote comand post had no cell or internet coverage and (c) his command post was calling US to communicate with his ground troups, as their radios didn't even work. Meanwhile, the fire moves our way.

3. We have individually and collectively, physically and emotionally organized ourselves for evacuation, and have spent every spare moment cutting back brush and pumping literally hundreds of thousands of gallons of water onto our property. The next danger we meet are the embers that are the advanced forces of the fire, and at least five spotters have been located by the Forest Service between milemarkers 8 and 12 along Rock Creek Road; with us being at mile marker 10, I guess that ignobily anoints us as "Ground Zero" (that means,at least, you should get good weblog data!). Meanwhile, the fire moves our way.

4. We have gone to the press in one last ditch effort to keep Sawmill Gulch fire out of Rock Creek Valley. I just completed a 15 minute live radio interview and we have reached out to our print and television friends to carry our message: Yes, there are other fires burning in the area, but the concept of "sharing resources", by definition, requires "sharing": Why have there been two helicopters simply sitting on the ground for the last five days at mile marker 6 (just 4 miles from the fire, for those in need of mathematical assistance) with a complete mobile retardant batch mixing plant, a Civil Air Patrol control tower in place and helicopter pilots to boot--none of which have been employed to fight its neighboring fire; none of which have even moved?? Meanwhile, the fire moves our way.

5. Lastly, and most importantly, we have taken a moment to be thankful for our blessings and to realize that, no matter the outcome of this fire, we want NO ONE to risk either life or limb to protect what, in all due course, can eventually be rebuilt and refoilaged. It's just damn frustrating to sit here day after day and watch what now appears to be the inevitable occur, when it all could have been avoided. I feel sorriest for my best neighbors, the fish, deer, moose (yes, one walked through the yard here on Wednesday afternoon while the Graybacks were helping us out), chipmunks, snakes (we have a garter snake that pays us a friendly daily visit as we water his nesting spot) and each of their insect buddies who are going to have their homes mightily destroyed in the not too distant future--all unecessarily from my vantage point.

And, yes, meanwhile, the fire moves our way.

Best to all from the zeroesque of it all,

Rock Creek Ron