Unbelivable

<div class="serendipity_imageComment_left" style="width: 110px"><div class="serendipity_imageComment_img"><a class='serendipity_image_link' href='http://www.sarpysam.com/sarpysam/uploads/smokie07132006.jpg'><img width='110' height='82' border='0' hspace='5' align='left' src='http://www.sarpysam.com/sarpysam/uploads/smokie07132006.serendipityThumb.jpg' alt='' /></a></div><div class="serendipity_imageComment_txt">Pillar of smoke from the Pine Ridge fire.</div></div>I have been watching the smoke all day from the Hardin area. It's over 90 degrees and the wind has been blowing strong all day around 20 mph so it's getting worse and worse. Now I find some information in the paper.<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/07/13/news/state/22-hardin-fires.txt">Complex of fires spreads toward Hardin</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>An estimated 150 properties in Hardin's North Valley were under an evacuation notice as the largest of the fires in the Pine Ridge complex continued its spread Thursday.<br />n<br />nThe fires sparked Wednesday southwest of the town of Pompey's Pillar. Two apparently joined, leaving a Type 3 Incident Management Team fighting four fires.<br />n<br />nThe largest of those, the Pine Ridge fire, was burning at least 20,000 acres between interstates 94 and 90 toward Hardin, as of 5:30 p.m. The blaze blew up Thursday amid gusty, high winds, said Rae Ann Weigand, a dispatcher in the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.</blockquote><br />n<br />nMy Darling Wife had to go to Billings today and she said it was unbelievable the smoke and fire. When she went up to Billings the fire was on the west side of Pine Ridge and when she came home it was all ready off the east side of Pine Ridge burning on the breaks down towards the valley. It's a tinderbox out there and the wind is making it worse.<br />n<br />nIf you look at a map the area between interstates 94 and 90 north of Hardin is a large area and the whole thing has been informed to be ready for evacuation. Unbelievable. Looking at the forecast the wind is supposed to die down tonight and tomorrow but the temperatures are supposed to be over 100 degrees tomorrow which will make fighting the fire very difficult.<div class="serendipity_imageComment_right" style="width: 110px"><div class="serendipity_imageComment_img"><a class='serendipity_image_link' href='http://www.sarpysam.com/sarpysam/uploads/smoke07132006.jpg'><img width='110' height='83' border='0' hspace='5' align='right' src='http://www.sarpysam.com/sarpysam/uploads/smoke07132006.serendipityThumb.jpg' alt='' /></a></div><div class="serendipity_imageComment_txt">Haze of smoke from the Pine Ridge fire in my country.</div></div><br />n<br />nI see the paper reports a Type I team is coming in to take charge of the fire. That's good news to me. A Type III team is on it now and that's the same kind of team that I had out here a couple of years ago in the big 30,000 acre fire in this country. They were the biggest bunch of idiots I have ever run across. Hopefully the type I team is a little better.<br />n<br />nI know there is a lot of people out there getting hurt by this and my prayers go out to them. I know how I felt when I was battling the big fire in my country in temperatures and wind like this and my heart goes out to them. It flat tears you apart. You fight and struggle to save your livelihood and watch it go up in flames and keep battling the flames to help your neighbor. God bless them all and all those fighting the fire. <br />n<br />n<strong>Life will not break your heart. It'll crush it. Henry Rollins</strong><br />n<br />nUPDATE:<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/07/14/news/state/20-hardin-fire_g.txt">Hardin fires burn 30K acres</a>