Thnaks for the concern everyone, things look fairly calm out there right now but we are supposed to be over 100 again today with wind and thunderstorms this evening. Maybe they will get some lines built this morning while it is calm.
Got to tell you this one Tap. In 2000 we had the same conditions and had a rash of lightning just north of us, they figured about 30 strikes that all burnt together. I got the dozer on the lines about 7 or so in the evening and started around the fire on the south and west sides where it would get to us if the wind changed. Hanta was here putting things in boxes, that's how close it was. Anyway, I did not have good lights on the dozer than, so our son (the Marine) rode with me and hung out the side with a spotlight so we could see where we were going. We connected with county roads on both ends, took us until about 6:00 the next morning. It was so dusty at times we would have to completely stop and let the dust go away so we could see again. We were caked in about an inch of dust
sitting on the side of the county road getting a drink of water and waiting to see if we were needed anywhere else on the perimenter before it satrted getting hot. Up drives a DNRC truck on the fire line we just built, with four guys in it, they stopped, the one guy got out and came over and shook my hand and said "I just wanted to shake the hand of a guy that can build a fire line like that in the dark". Then he say the spotlight and said "I sure hope you show up on all of the fires I'm on, and you did that with a spotlight, man you're good". They left, and we just stayed put for about another 15 minutes and another DNRC truck drives in, on the fire line we built, but this was the boss. He came over and chewed me out for 1) going through a gate instead of building the line straight as it would have cut about an acre more off of the fire side of the line if I would have just plowed through the fence, and 2) Where I first started I left about 30 yards not connected to the county road. He gorgot, that is where his people were sitting and watching in their trucks when I got there the night before. Not a thankyou, nothing but a get your dozer back there and fix those two places. He forgot also, you can't order free help around like that, we stayed put :wink: