Alpineglow

A  map  created by Cal Fire showing which homes have been destroyed by the Camp Fire is now showing photos of the properties.

This morning laying in bed here in Virginia City my mind cannot get away from the horrific events I have seen on the portals of the Internet going on in Chico and Paradise. As the sun rises glowing red on the horizon the alpenglow reminds me of scenes of the fire as people struggled to escape the infernal hell all around them. The fire chased people from their home abandoning all they owned and loved, with the morning bringing tragic discoveries. The days slowly drag by as the fire pushes relentlessly northeast towards forest dear to me and my family. Reports that put the death toll at 29 poor souls greeted me this morning on the news and social media sites. More tragic tails of those overwhelmed in seconds. Most were never aware of the fire before it was over the top of them. Calfire and the NFS are throwing all they have at this fire, but weather and humidity are not favoring us quite yet. We are 3 days into the fire and it continues to advance toward Oroville.   M

This morning laying in bed here in Virginia City, my mind cannot get away from the horrific events I have seen going on in Chico and Paradise.  As the sun rises glowing red on the horizon the alpenglow reminds me of scenes of the fire as people struggled to escape the infernal hell all around them.  The fire chased people from their home abandoning all they owned and loved, with the morning bringing tragic discoveries. The days slowly drag by as the fire pushes relentlessly northeast towards forest dear to me and my family.  Reports that put the death toll at 25 poor souls greeted me this morning on the news and social media sites. More tragic tails of those overwhelmed in seconds. Most were never aware of the fire before it was over the top of them.  Calfire and the NFS are throwing all they have at this fire, but weather and humidity are not favoring us quite yet. We are 3 days into the fire and it continues to advance toward Oroville.   Meanwhile another huge fire burns in

This week was epic in its tragedy. Two major wildfires burning north and south in California. One, the Camp fire in Butte county is of special interest to me right now. It is my family hometown. The place of origin of 6 generations of my family and the resting place of most of them. The town is, or was Paradise California. Populations 26,560, located below Bucks Lake and Butte Meadows just east of Chico. The town history is available on Wikipedia, but my ancestors arrived about 1868. My great grandfather was a lawman and judge in the county and my great uncles were gifted engineers who build a lot of the states early infrastructure. Paradise was my family's place to come home to. When William Pierce Leonard named the town in 1864 after a long dusty ride from Sacramento saying "boys, this is paradise". The name stuck and this was my family's piece of heaven. My earliest memory's in life were of fishing the West Branch and camping near Resins Crossing w