The “Goring Fire” flared up about a dozen miles north of here this afternoon, apparently sparked by a lightning strike. It has quickly grown to 7,000 acres (going from “must be a doozy of a fire” to “humdinger”). While it seems very unlikely that the fire will get anywhere near here, the smoke sure as hell has. Stanky.
This evening the effort to stamp out the fire – an effort which seems to be ongoing – involved the use of aircraft. I saw a BAE 146 with a fat belly repeatedly flying back and forth (I understand it’s based at Hill Air Force Base), as well as a C-130 that did at least two sorties. It’s now hours past sundown and the winds have shifted a bit; it’s not nearly as awful out. But the fire is visible to the naked eye as a red glow on the northern horizon, and the red-lit clouds of smoke come through quite clearly via photography. Should have some interesting photos if I can gin up the enthusiasm to dump ’em onto the computer and deal with them.