Good Morning!!!! 68F @ 7:30AM. 0% Precip. / 0.00 in. Mostly Sunny. High 78F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Glad the FF was a success, Don, and that cooler heads prevailed in moving the date for next year.
Yesterday's fires were all to the south of here, all except one which is still burning 6.5 miles to the northeast. This morning the Honey Fire is at 90 acres and 30% containment. It started yesterday afternoon after the winds had abated somewhat, so it's unlikely power lines were the cause. Still no official word on the cause of the other much larger fires to the south, but with the way the wind was blowing night before last and yesterday, my money's on power lines. Neighbors all around were reporting sparks and downed lines. Oroville is once again in trouble, with the Cherokee Fire to the north at 7500 acres and 40% containment and the La Porte fire to the south at 3500 acres and 5% containment. So far, the LaPorte fire has been the most destructive of the two, having swept through the tiny town of Bangor and burning down most of the buildings and homes there. Lots of smoke in the air this morning, blown here by gentle southerly breezes, the skies actually look overcast but it's not clouds. Highway 70 south of here is closed starting at the north side of Oroville south to the Butte County line, almost fifteen miles, for "Emergency Work". It's not due to reopen until Thursday morning.
This is due to the Cascade Fire, 8200 acres and 10% contained, which is directly south of the La Porte fire (some sources say they have merged). All of these fires have resulted in evacuations and lost homes and businesses. Santa Rosa, pretty much at the north of the San Francisco Bay Area, was
devastated by the Tubb Fire, losing some 1500 buildings; several people died.
I spent most of yesterday on the back porch sanding runs off of the saddle bags I painted last week, and power started flickering on and off in the late afternoon. I was able to finish buffing about dinner time, but then the power went off at about 8:30, coming on again, then going off again, several times until I just gave up and went to bed. It came back on again to stay at about 2 AM. I know because three so called "smart" light switches in the house turn the lights they control to full brightness when power is restored, and though none of them are in the master bedroom, enough light shown through the door to wake me.
Still have some touch up to do on the bags today, then I'll switch to cleaning wheels and engine/transmission cases. What fun!
