The Sacramento Bee newspaper says the Website giving the best Northern California fire reporting is http://www.yubanet.com/.
We had a few days of almost-blue skies, and now it's getting smoky (and hot) again. As it gets hotter, the inversion layer traps the smoke and keeps it here.
Cough, cough....



If you have broadband Internet, take a look at this PDF map (click) of the Northern California fires. As you can see, there are many, many fires. They were almost all caused by lightning strikes - the date was June 20-21. I'm in Applegate, on the lower right-hand corner of the map. There are no fires really close to me, but the Government Westville (American River Complex) fire is giving us a lot of smoke and is predicted to burn until the end of July. Laurel's house was burned in the huge complex of fires east of Chico, along California Highway 70 and the Feather River Canyon. It's still unclear to me, but I believe this is what is called the Butte Lightning Complex of fires. It has burned 50,700 acres, or approximately 79 square miles. This is (or was) an absolutely beautiful area. The old Western Pacific (now Union Pacific) Railroad, Highway 70, and the Feather River follow this canyon from Oroville to Quincy, the quaint old county seat of Plumas County. It has been one of my favorite scenic drives in California. You can pull of the highway in any number of spots and watch the river cascades and wildlife and wildflowers. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company has a series of small, old hydroelectric dams and power plants along the way. Purists may not like them, but I really like the architecture of thse old buildings. I can't tell from the map how much of the fire damage will be visible from the highway. Oftentimes, the highways are protected and most visitors never see the damage caused by fires.

-Joe-