Others are not. My heart goes out to those that lost their homes and property.

The two fires are not contained; but they are not expanding like they were this weekend. The weather helped a lot. The rain and fog was shallow upslope, so while it was nice and Irish weather at the foot of the mountains, higher up it was still dry, warm, and windy. This is the biggest fire in county history and it happened in 12 hours.

It has become almost a requirement to thank the firemen and women, but damn, they deserve it. Fire departments from all over the county (and neighboring counties) pitched in. I know, because I was listening to the scanner. Law enforcement too. They closed the roads, conducted evacuations, helped get people, pets, and livestock to safety. Our county government also kicked ass. They opened the fairgrounds to house livestock. Hundreds of horses, goats, alpacas, llamas, goats, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. The office of Emergency Management kicked into gear with quick as possible information. A continually updated internet map was provided. It was clear and quick. I'd hear of a new evacuation zone on the scanner and in minutes it appeared on the map. They were on social media spreading the word on shelters and closures and where to bring animals. Well organized and well trained government works, damnit, and I'll pay my taxes happily for this level of professional response to disaster.

Social media was also impressive. There were offers all over twitter for lodging and assistance. "I have a horse trailer and a 750, who needs help?" Sure, there were unfounded claims and mean posts, but they were either corrected in the case of the former, or ignored in the case of the later. Lots of sharing of information and where to find it. I'm proud of this community.

A final group I am impressed by are the pilots and ground crews of the air support. These folks are amazing. Every kind of craft, from drones to giant jets have been flying overhead. I watched their flight paths on FlightAware and the way they are coordinated is a dance in the sky. Taking one of those big slurry bombing jets a few hundred feet off the deck, in the mountains, in the smoke, delivering the payload without dropping it on crews, then adjusting to the change in aircraft weight (pushing down instead of up) has got to take an insane amount of training and skill.

Anyway, the 5 minute go bags are still by the front door and clothes laid out when we're asleep. Expecting freezing temperatures and snow Thursday night. I'll sleep better then.