I have some photos that have not been put in the blog. Sloth, I suppose. The first was taken with Jim's cell phone. His phone is newer than mine and has a better camera. My night time photo technique is to press the phone against my forehead, using my head as a tripod. It does steady the camera, and it also looks really stupid to anyone who sees you. Anyway, the eclipse.
It was kind of cool how the eclipsed part looked bright and shiny.
These were taken closer to the 9 Mile Recreation area. I am so grateful than the fire fighters were able to save it. The fence burned up, but everything else is safe. This is what's left of a lot of trees. Carbon.
These trees are cut up for removal. They've become dangerous trees due to fire damage.
My theory, unencumbered by facts or data, is that the holes were caused by smoldering stumps. They sat there and smoldered until they were used up. The dirt looks like that because it's mineralized, all the organic material has burned.
Spokane had volcanoes a zillion years ago. The volcanoes leaked basalt out the sides of the cones. Those rocks are basalt. This had to make life difficult for the people cutting fire breaks. Hopefully they had power tools.
Today we rode down the Aubrey Wright parkway to see what we would see. Fortunately the really cool neighborhood that fronts on the water was spared. There was a lot of devastation in the housing behind them that fronts on Nine Mile. It's so weird, one house will be left untouched, and the two on either side of it are burned to the ground. We continued on and looked at the Rifle Club which was completely destroyed. Then we saw this. At first I thought it was a new fire forming. It's not, it's a dust devil that is picking up dirt from the fires. It had pretty fast rotation. After it sputtered out, a cyclist coming towards us shouted out "that was crazy!" He's right.
This is a house just outside of our gate. It recently sold. It got a new roof.
There was also excavation, I'm thinking for the sewer. Look at the left side of the photo. That is a window well that has been removed.
So, that's what we've seen and done recently.
Wow! That dirt devil is amazing! I have never seen one that tall. I stayed up for the eclipse. It was cold that night, but I stood out there in a bathrobe watching. Pretty neat. I went inside but I really wanted to see it uncover. I really wanted to sleep too. Bed won that argument.
ReplyDeleteIt's always so shocking seeing the land after a fire. That dust devil does look like a fire plume, very scary I imagine.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought that the dead trees would have been left to provide nutrients for the next generation.
I think the main reason is that downed trees become habitat for bark beetles, which are killing the trees around here. Also, dried out dead wood becomes fuel for the next fire.
DeleteThat dust devil is amazing. Back when I was growing up and we spent a lot of time at the beach house we would see water spouts, basically dust devils but with water. What causes one house to survive and others to be destroyed. When Hurricane Ike came through it totally obliterated one coastal community. Everything was flattened except for one house standing in the middle looking completely untouched.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to see the devastation to the treed areas. That dust devil truly looked frightening.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of dust storms but never a dust devil. Great photo Allison.
ReplyDeleteThe fire was devastating. The losses are immense. The burned forest and ground look like a photo of a planet in outer space; craters and all.
Will the community replant trees?
That dust devil is CRAZY! (As the cyclist said.) I've never seen anything like that.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to leave Comments for Days... but it finally self-corrected. Such devastation, that is one wicked looking Dust Devil. We get them all the time in the Desert but that one looks unique.
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