3rd Paper:
The
fire had been roaring through the forest for days. With tens of thousands of
acres of pristine forest downwind, there did not seem like anything could stop
the building inferno. The fire had started out small enough, a small lightning
strike in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, it was in tinder dry grass
along the ridge of a remote mountain within Yellowstone National Park. The ember smoldered for days. As the prevailing storm moved out of the area,
the wind suddenly picked up. Like a sparkler sputtering to life, the smoldering
embers exploded in every direction. Bits and pieces of burning grass and glowing
embers were detonating as soon as they fell on the tinder dry fuel.
The campers
as well as the backpackers were unaware of the impending threat that smoky
morning would bring. There is an old sailor’s rhyme that goes ‘Red sky at
night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning’. Well, the morning
sky, at least what you could see of it through the thick haze, was a dark blood
red. Thick plumes of smoke rose in the distance, the air almost opaque, hid the
sun. It was going to be a long hot hellish day for those awakening in the park.
Park
Rangers were having a difficult time getting a handle on the situation. Calls
were streaming in from all over the park on every mobile band (radio and cell
phone). Fire crews dispatched to the most populous and the most fragile fire
areas. However, they could do little under the circumstances. People quickly
awakened in the campgrounds, cabins, and resorts were hastily ushered out of
harm’s way along specific roads in a one-way procession of motorcycles, cars,
RVs, and buses. They ended up in the western park entrance town of West
Yellowstone, Montana, expanding the small town’s population by sevenfold. The
park escapees were smoke-covered and exhausted, but they were safe.
People packing in the backcountry
were another story. Rangers hurriedly searched for these individuals using
helicopters and motorcycles (something unheard of under normal conditions in
the backcountry, but this situation was anything but normal); horses were
useless. Time and was running out and the fire continued to rage on. Backpackers,
who were located, were quickly removed from the area. They were scared and grateful
for the help of the searchers. Adding to the danger was the fleeing wildlife as
the animals spilled out of the hills and woods looking wild-eyed only to wander
the roadways seeking refuge from the fast moving fire. Others were not so
lucky, though rescue crews worked frantically searching for everyone. Those
hikers not located would have to fend for themselves; maybe they would make it
to the river.
The fire
consumed everything in its path and left little in its wake. Land that had not
seen fire in more than 50 years was ripe for the burning with dead trees,
brush, and duff covering on the forest floor. The simple chemical reaction of
some carbon-based material with some heat not only destroys but also creates. The
fire quadrupled in size producing its own wind. The enormous fire was moving
fast and as it did, it created its own weather patterns, triggering swirling
wind from every direction. The smoke and haze got thicker as the wind shifted.
Anxiety rose among the Rangers and visitors alike.
The unfound
backpackers and I knew it was going to be a rough morning when they awoke because
smoke filled the valley all the way down the river. There is another old
saying, ‘where there is smoke there is fire’. The air was thick making it hard
to see and difficult to breathe. They had seen the lightning strike on
the far ridge during the night, but thought little about it. After all, it was
only one lightning strike, but the smoky morning sky foreshadowed a different story.
The backpackers were undecided as to what to do. Some thought about trying to retrace
their steps back to the main road, but that meant moving up hill and that is
where the smoke was coming from. Others contemplated staying put and hoped for
a rescue. I was not really listening to the others; I was watching what was
going on around me trying to access a situation that I had never encountered
before.
The
escaping wildlife, at least what we could see of it, was moving toward the
river. As we watched, the animals started wading in and just standing in herds.
Common sense took over and I suggested we follow the animals because they
seemed to know what they doing and they were incredibly peaceful toward one
another. The river already held deer, moose, bison, and even cototes, all trying to
do the same thing- survive.Now it was going to hold a group of
humans Luckily, there were no bears or wild cats, predators of the rest of us. Our thought was to be downriver from the herds so not to upset them.
We left our camping equipment, taking only emergency essentials, and maneuvered along
the bank to position ourselves down river and down wind.
The scene
was both eerie, frightning, and tranquil at the same momment. The sound of the roaring and
exploding fire was louder then any jet plane or rock concert I had ever heard. Nevertheless, the combination of the two scenes was incredible; the fire,
smoke, and chaos that was happening on the land versus the peaceful setting of
the diversity of wildlife (not normally seen together under ordinary conditions)
and humans all hanging out in the river. Eventually the fire passes without
harm to anything or anyone in the river. The wildlife actually saved our lives.
The wildlife started to depart in small groups until we were the only animals
left in the river. We all looked at each other; laughed, hugged, and splashed
around in the water. Looking around at the devastation as well as the animals
walking away, I said, “It’s truly is a sad and
beautiful world”.
