We are part of an ever growing movement of people migrating from the cities into this Wildland-Urban Interface area. What we lack in conveniences are more than made up for by being able to look out and see deer, bears, coyotes, fox and more. If I want to have a camp fire, I have one! I say that because not being able to do just that one simple act is one of the reasons I left my home state of Ohio when I graduated high school. I have always craved the independance that living in the country has granted me.
Living in the Wildland-Urban Interface also has its challenges, chief among them being the threat of forest fire. In the southwest and much of the western states, the force of nature that most threatens many of us is fire.
Just in our small, low density neighbord, we've had the following fires:
- We had an old truck burst into flames sitting under a pinon tree during the worst drought I've experienced.
- A neighbor burned his house down by not observing the proper clearances on his woodstove.
- An elderly woman burned her house down by stacking endless piles of newspaper in her living room right up to her fireplace
- Another neighbor lost a trailer to fire from a gas leak
- The guy next to him lost his trailer from fire as well.
- Another neighbor, just 1/4 of a mile away, was burning trash without a water hose nearby. The fire started to spread up into the Ponderosa Pines, out of control. If not for the fast actions of his closest neighbor who was able to put the fire out with a garden hose, the results could have been catastrophic, as could have each of the incidents, above.
Putting out our truck fire in a matter of seconds was a real eye-opener. What a blessing it was to have a supply of Baum's NovaCool UEF on hand...
