Fire Season, 2021 Edition

Stage 1 fire restrictions went into effect last weekend, and stage 2 restrictions are set to go into effect this coming Monday. You would think that the “no explosives” admonition would be obvious, but it’s not, because people are stupid.

I set up a group text for people in our community. I monitor the scanner, and our fire department dispatches get sent to my phone, so I am in a good position to let people know if something is happening. The group text is the modern version of a phone tree. I sent out the first notification yesterday afternoon with a note saying that I hoped it was the only one I needed to send.

A line of dry thunderstorms came through Wednesday afternoon and sparked a wildfire five miles west of Polebridge. Glacier Park was overrun by tourists last year, so the park instituted a ticketing system for 2021. Tickets sell out within five minutes every morning, leading many people to look for other places to visit that do not require tickets. One of those places is the North Fork, which is along the western edge of the park. (Another is the state and federal lands across from our house.) The Polebridge Mercantile is the last stop in civilization before heading into true wilderness. Unfortunately, many people go up there thinking it’s Disneyland.

[This is a long article but worth reading if you have the time: Off the Grid and Overrun. It sums up the current situation in the North Fork nicely.]

So now there is a forest fire burning five miles west of Polebridge—the Hay Creek Fire—and threatening an area frequented by tourists who are woefully unprepared for wilderness, let alone wilderness that’s on fire. I see that some of the roads and hiking trails have been closed, which will help.

Our neighbor Ali works for the Forest Service and with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. She texted me yesterday afternoon that she’s been assigned to the Hay Creek Fire.

The Robert Fire that burned so much of the western side of Glacier Park in 2003 started on July 23, 2003 at 4:45 pm. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner when the first fire department dispatch went out.

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I stopped in at the quilt store yesterday morning to pick up this book that Tera recommended:

It has lots of great color photos and looks like a terrific resource for serging in general. While I was there, the woman who coordinates the classes and I chatted a bit about our coverstitch machines. I told her I had just gotten binding attachments for mine but hadn’t had a chance to try them yet. She then asked me if I would be willing to help her fine-tune a pattern for fit.

That request surprised me a bit, although I think I can help her out. I said to the husband last night that my spatial perception abilities have improved dramatically in the last couple of years. I can’t park a trailer 3” from a tree like the husband can, but I can draft a T-shirt pattern that fits me well. Sewing with knits almost feels like cheating to me, because I am not having to create the fabric AND fit it simultaneously like I did when designing sweaters.

Maybe I did the difficult thing first, LOL.