Sunday, August 23, 2015

Monday, August 17, 2015

After Rocky Fire… The Map




Due to the heat (106F) and smoldering hot spots, its been real smoky these last 2 days... 95,000 acres has burned so far... Rocky Fire was 69,500 acres and Jerusalem which is still burning is at 25,100 acres this morning. This 'second' fire began because an ex-firefighter, now pot grower, decided to do an illegal 'back burn' around his precious plants in order to protect them from Rocky Fire. I hope his place burned down. Not sure yet what started Rocky Fire but it was by humans in the Lower Lake area, many miles away from Twilight. 

Rocky Fire should never have jumped Hwy 20 but their firefighting focus was on the southern and eastern ends until Saturday, the day we were evacuated and our area became its clear next destination. I honestly believe that compromises and concessions were made... evidenced by their fore-knowledge that the fire would burn through the ranch 3-4 days before it actually did so. Cal-Fire were unwilling to disclose the fact that Rocky Fire had jumped Hwy 20 & burned through my property Monday until Tuesday evening whilst The Press Democrat published its statement early Monday morning. Cal-Fire was also unwilling to tell us the condition of our properties- the only thing that gave us hope was a live helicopter footage taken on Wednesday afternoon by Channel 3 News which a friend happen to see on YouTube.


Regardless of those administrative decisions and lack of air tankers in our area, I am immensely grateful to the one that dropped fire retardant all over my buildings / property; and to the fire fighting crews whom helped insure that my structures did not burn on Monday. Thank you and to those idiot fire starters: you suck beyond words.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

After Rocky Fire… Mountain and Upper Orchards











The upper water tanks
were spared from fire
damage and so was the
northern strip of the property.

Olives, Figs, Mulberry trees 
were not damaged
one cherry was scorched
50% of the new French lavenders
are unlikely to recover

Dingo's Tree as well
as Gurdy's Daisy Shrub
are doing fine though.

Some of the oaks, pines, 
manzanitas on the 
mountain side
may recover

After Rocky Fire… Pawlonia and Apple Orchards











Here are the post fire 
views of the Pawlonia
and Winter Spiral
Apple Orchards

About half the Pawlonias
got hit with fire…
and the southwest end 
of the apple orchard
got scorched as well.
Its unclear to me
how many of the trees 
will survive…

The huge 14 yr old
lavenders were vaporized
and some of the
younger ones did
not survive the heat
and lack of water.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

After Rocky Fire… Spiral Garden Destroyed











The 80' diameter
Spiral Garden
did not survive
the onslaught of
Rocky Fire

There is a 
smattering of
plants on the interior
that may pull through
but whilst the
Italian cypresses
look like they may
- they won't -
with the exception
of the smallest one on
Merlin's grave.

The biggest 
remaining hope
in this garden
are the Buddleias
(butterfly bushes)
on its exterior
which will need
to be cut back
for new growth.

After Rocky Fire… Dome Workshop







Rocky Fire
burned right close
to the dome workshop.

You can see that
the firefighter crew
created a fire break.

The orange red
'stuff' on the 
vinyl cover and roof
is the fire retardant
that gets dropped 
or sprayed to 
protect prime areas
and structures.
It will be a task
to clean and prep
for paintwork.

Regretably
we have discovered 
some small holes
in the vinyl cover.
I believe these can
be fixed with
patches and paint.

After Rocky Fire… Driveway Views







Driveway Views of 
scorched neighborhood.

Original gate posts 
and its artsy wood
extension burned 
to oblivion

New 6x6 posts were
sunk into the ground
and original gates
were re-hung.
They will need to be 
cleaned, restored and
painted before rain season

Friday, August 14, 2015

After Rocky Fire… Views from the Veggie Garden









The first photo was 
taken from the same location
that the Rocky Fire Approaching 
photographs were taken.

These show the vegetable garden
where 3 raised beds were burned 
to the ground; a plastic shed
and tool box melted away;
Italian cypresses scorched
beyond hope and all
the rosemaries that were 
at their feet have vaporized.

Today, Bruce repaired two 
of the raised beds 
that were fire damaged… 
we will still have six 
raised beds that can be used.
A miracle, really.

After Rocky Fire - Live Copter over Twilight 8/5


http://www.kcra.com/news/livecopter3-shows-wide-burn-area-from-rocky-fire/34541588

This one minute news segment is what told us on Wednesday night what we could expect to come home to. We were so grateful for this information as Cal-Fire did not disclose anything to us... including that Rocky Fire had jumped over Hwy 20 and burned through the property on Monday 8/3. We only knew this on Tuesday night and nothing else.

The truth is… fire retardant had been dropped on the property, on all structures and firefighters fought to safeguard Twilight. I am truly grateful to them !


Rocky Fire Approaching Twilight 7-31







Rocky Fire began 
at 3.30pm on 7-29
east Lower Lake, CA

Photos taken July 31st
17,500 acres burned 
at this juncture
moving northbound 
towards Twilight

During this time
it was not unusual
to have burned oak
leaves, pine needles
and ash falling
from the sky.



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