When a wall of flames shot up a canyon and forced Steve and Linda to run from their home of 20 years they barely had time to grab a few photos, clothes and some of their pets. "We basically all ran for our lives," said Steve, 58. "I'm looking in my rearview mirror, and all I could see was red," Linda said. Thursday, they returned to the area for a brief visit along with residents of 150 other homes caught in a wildfire that burned 53 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park . Ashes were no longer flying about, but the smell of smoke lingered. They stood in front of the charred remains of their home for 10 minutes. That was all their sheriff's escort would allow because of the danger of a return of the flames.

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER CURTIS JESSEN PASSED AWAY AUGUST 21,2008..WHILE SCOUTING A WILDFIRE OUTSIDE OF SALUDA NORTH CAROLINA ...HE FELL OVER A WATERFALL AND PERISHED...CURTIS WAS WITH THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY


All fires go out. Trees and brush will grow back. Homes can be rebuilt - we cannot. 

 

Hey, thats cool that you’re up here in the Huron national forest. we had a pretty bad fire up here back at the end of april that almost took out the city of Grayling . that was a very long day, my first real wildfire, i have been on some smaller ones but that one really gave me a taste of what fighting a wildfire is like. nothing like structure fires.

I was walking down the street the other day in downtown Washington , DC ... and looked south across the national mall, waiting for a light. I noticed a flag flying at half staff, and stopped cold when I realized it was the USDA Headquarters...I knew it had to be for the firefighters. In this city of symbols, it is a very powerful, solemn tribute to those whom the fire community has lost. It is one entire federal department saying hey, we've lost some of our own.




Kurt Kamm writes novels about fires and firefighters. A resident of Malibu , he has lived through several wildland fires. He is a regular visitor at the fire camps, stations and training academies of L.A. County Fire Department and CalFire. To learn more about his novels, One Foot in the Black, and Red Flag Warning, visit http://www.kurtkamm.com.


.........