Fire, fire, fire--oh wait it is just smoke, smoke, smoke

I woke up yet again to the smell of smoke.  Once again, I look out all of my windows and I can’t see anything. I just smell it. There is a significant breeze coming in from the southwest and this time it smells like wood. I veered outside and it was very hazy from where the wind was blowing.

Earlier this week I awoke at 3am to heavy smoke which smelled like BBQ or garbage. Really? Neighbors can you really be cooking at that hour. I thought it was garbage and that maybe they weren’t supposed to be burning it. Do we have sneaky neighbors?

Not really knowing what I should do, I phoned the fire department for advice. I was given Joe Williams’, Fire Marshall, voice mail. Oh, I’m in for it now the Fire Marshall. I just left him a message about my concern. He phoned me back promptly, but was unable to comfort me. There were no reported fires that evening in our area. 

Darn, I was sure it had to be something serious.

His advice was to drive around and snoop (I mean get to know) my neighbors.  I should see what they are up to and find out the burning regulations in my area. He also stated that the wind matters a great deal. You can smell fires burning from miles away. He said that we should keep our hoses out in case of a fire, keep an area of green around our home, and report anything. I asked specifically what does “anything” mean? He said they would come out no matter what I reported and they would do their best to track down the fire.

Now I know better not to report a fire until you see flames, but he made it sound like I can call with any concerns. Ok that did make me feel a bit better, but I don’t want to waste their time looking for something when they can actually be putting out a real fire.

Probably as the season moves on and we hopefully get more rain, we will be immune to the whole wildfire frenzy. We will then get excited as the weather turns colder and the smell of tamarack, oak, or other woods are burning in chimneys (where they are contained).

For now dear neighbors if you are planning a BBQ after the 10pm hour, I must insist upon an invitation. Otherwise, I might be running with my hose and may have even phoned Moscow FD.