Forest Fire
Choking on the acrid smoke
Lips dry and parched
Eyes stinging, bloodshot
Staring at the devastation
Aggressive efforts
By armies in bunker gear
All for naught
With a change in the wind
Firesnakes overhead
Continuous drops
Families trapped
Flames creeping closer
Searing heat
Everything becomes fuel
Evacuations
Tearful goodbyes
Historic houses engulfed
Taking memories
And moments away
Leaving only sorrow
And ash
Large Forest Fires
A Large Fire, as defined by the National Wildland Coordinating Group, is any wildland fire in timber 100 acres or greater and 300 acres or greater in grasslands/rangelands or has an Incident Management Team assigned to it. These fires are tracked by the US Forest Service and can be viewed online at their website.
The Active Fire Mapping Program is an operational, satellite-based fire detection and monitoring program managed by the USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Active Fire Mapping program provides near real-time detection and characterization of wildland fire conditions in a geospatial context for the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Canada. Detectable fire activity across all administrative ownerships in the United States and Canada are mapped and characterized by the program.
By understanding where fires are burning and what potential they have for destruction of property and disruption of life, the proper resources can be allocated to fight them.
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Thank you for this not only informative piece, but also the accompaniment of a fine poem, revealing the challenges and devastation with the aftermath of a fire’s destruction. Very well done.
Best,
Mel
I did enjoy this, thank you for sharing
Thanks for reading – I live in Idaho and fires here are the real deal – we need as much awareness as possible
Ralph, the poem is so expressive of the effects of forest fires on property and people. The losses are devastating. I have a friend in Colorado who is a volunteer fire fighter and also a nephew who is a First Response fire fighter here in Nevada. When they get back home after days of fighting fires, it takes several showers to get rid of the smell of smoke and the soot from their hair. The information you provide is very interesting. Well done, Ralph.
Well penned Ralph, and we have often horrendous fires here in Australia. Its the natural course in the outback, for it regenerates seeds and plants that can’t any other way. But they can get out of control and many lives can be lost. Thanks God for the ‘fireries’ that risk their lives to save both life and property.