monument fire

as most people know, arizona is on fire. the wallow fire near flagstaff has engulfed almost half million acres, and there is practically nothing left of the chiracahua mountains. the newest fire, called the monument fire, is practically in my backyard. and even though it's nowhere near the land mass as the wallow, it has become of much bigger concern due to it's proximity to houses.  the roads to sierra vista, a mere 20 miles from bisbee, have been blocked in certain areas, and most of the communities in between have evacuated. some say it's too far from bisbee for us to evac and also that the winds are blowing it in other directions. regardless of what people are saying, i'm prepared with water...and constantly checking out the skies. the winds yesterday blew the smoke in right over us.

this last photo is not very good because i had to super crop it. this is day two. on day one of the monument fire john and i had planned to make a trip to sierra vista at about 3 in the afternoon, only to be detoured around a fire that had started at about 145. upon leaving sv, the road had opened back up, and was completely lined with cars pulled off on the side...by standers watching the fire blaze down the side of the mountain, creeping up behind houses. a very weird thing to see at night...a solid piece of earth glistening like molten rock at night. below you can see the charred areas from the day before.