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Jack Fire

Friday, April 23rd, 2021

Wednesday morning, I went out to hang laundry and saw smoke from a fire back in our canyon. With very high winds and a red flag warning all week, I immediately called the forest service. Within a couple hours fire crews and air support were on their way. By Wednesday evening, the fire had grown to 800 acres. 

This is the first major fire for this season, so it’s gotten a lot of press coverage even in Tucson. As a result, people have been calling to check on how I am and offer me a place to stay if I need it. Very kind, but also a little anxiety producing.

They’ve been very aggressive with DC-10 retardant drops, and this morning, things are looking better. As of last night, the fire was at 2,000 acres but hadn’t traveled north much so the outlook is good for now. (You might remember that a few years ago a fire in the same place and in similar weather traveled about 100 miles and burned for six weeks. No one wants that to happen again.)

I fear that this is part of the “new normal,” but for now, we are safe and sound.

Quick update

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

The fires are still burning. We’re up to almost 800 firefighters and 30,000 acres, but it is 25% contained which is good news. From our house, the fire doesn’t look as bad as it did, though we can still see flames at night. The research station has been evacuated, but no structures anywhere have burned (with the exception of one trailer that was not wildfire related). It is very windy today with the same predicted for tomorrow.

As for my garden, the volunteer cucumbers bloomed, revealing the fact that they are not cucumbers at all. They seem to be some kind of squash, probably butternut from seeds in the compost. I transplanted them to outside the greenhouse. If they don’t get obliterated by the wind, we’ll see what they turn into.

The fire and our garden

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

The fire has now burned over 13,000 acres and more than 560 firefighters are here. This fire burned more in 24 hours than the fire last year did in four weeks, due mostly to high winds. Strangely, even given that, we are feeling more secure personally. No homes have been burned, and we have heard that the firefighters have a “high degree” of confidence that they can prevent the fire from getting out onto the flats where we are. Still, seeing the smoke all day and the incredible flames every night is depressing. And we have not yet unpacked our “evacuation box” (pictures, records, a few other things we wouldn’t want to lose). I’m sure we’ll be fine though, so don’t worry!

On a brighter front, the garden is fabulous. We have moved about 14 of the 20 tomato plants outside. We saw the first actual pea-sized tomato today. The eggplants are thriving, and the peas are taller than me. We have edamame coming up, and there are so many volunteer cucumbers from last year that I may not even plant any new ones. Brad’s garlic and asparagus are thriving. Good health all around, so far at least.

Lettuce from our garden

Lettuce from our garden

Peas in the garden

Peas in the garden

Eggplant in the foreground and tomatoes behind them

Eggplant in the foreground and tomatoes behind them