Aftermath-Thomas Fire

All the news here is about the fire. It started like this last Thursday afternoon, the day after the Fourth of July. The first edges of the weather front that caused all the trouble was just starting arrive. The leading edges carried enought moisture to cause these squalls. This is looking southwest, down the Humboldt River Valley, toward Lovelock and the Humboldt Sinks. The rain was falling out of these clouds but you can see it vaporizing just under the clouds. Virga

Then came the real thunderstorms on Friday night, still little or mostly no rain, but this time with lightning. By Saturday night it was fire and brimstone all around. I didn't get a decent photo of the fires, but this will give you some idea. This was about 10:30 Saturday night after the fire had burned all the way from Thomas Canyon, past Water Canyon and on towards the east. This is the edge that looked to be headed for the Kluncy Canyon part of town.


























Last night, just before sunset, this is what the after effects look like.



















This is a closer look at the Grass Valley Area. It is truly amazing that no homes were lost in the fire.


Water Canyon:




















There is lots of discussion around town about the tactics used to fight the fire.

From what I hear, the local fire fighters, the Winnemucca Boys, were responsible for holding the lines Saturday night, and saved many, many homes from destruction.

Local folks are not at all pleased with the work of the BLM, especially the experts that arrived late on the scene, took control, and just let it burn. That's what I hear. I was trying to stay out of the way, so I don't have any first hand knowledge of the situation. The people that live up in the Water Canyon Estates have lots to say.





Some other folks came up on the mountain for a look while I was there. It had cooled down to 97F by this afternoon.