Tunk Grade Fire

I got this update from Tim last week...He is still in prison, but he is working with the Department Of Natural Resources fighting wildfires.



These images are of the fire he was at, but they were pulled off the web, so I have no idea who is in the pictures.

Hello Mom.

I am over in Okanogan fighting the Tunk Grade Fire. Right now it is 10% contained. 15,600 acres. I am having fun. We put out spot fires yesterday, then watched the helicopters do their water drops and the tanker do their retardent drops. They fly right over our heads. It is pretty cool to watch. I could tell the pilot was balding and had sunglasses he was so close. (my comments here...the pilot got so close they were actually dropped ON, but not until after this was written. It was on the news,)

Today we got to do some back burning. That was fun, I burnt up a whole hillside.BIG hillside. It was sagebrush and went up fast and hot. THis camp tripled in size from the time we left this morning to the time we got back. I saw a couple of people from Orcas (Orcas Island is the place he lives when he isnt in prison, and he was with the fire department there) It was nice to see familiar faces. There was a channel 5 news team there today, and we drove right past them as they were setting up to do their 500 live feed.

Any way, I am having fun, at least so far. I better get some sleep, talk to you soon.



He called last Friday, and we were just getting into the conversation when we were cut off. THe phone at the corrections center is monitored, and it will not allow 3 way calling, so whenever they pick up and monitor the conversations, it thinks we are on a 3 way call and cuts us off. SO he calls back and they do it again, so I know he is back, the fire is out, and he is waiting for the next one to flare up which could be at any time.

It is hot and dry over there, and our forests can go up in a minute. We have lost firefighters when they get overrun by the fire, but I think he is smart enough to watch out for that. I HOPE!

Right now he is back on the Olympic Penninsula, thinning trees and cleaning camp grounds. He LOVES it. Sees some gorgeous sites, and mingles with the animals.