Fri, May 23 2008

Summit Fire under better containment

The Summit fire conditions have improved a lot, as of this morning. Our marine layer is providing a moist canopy and the winds are not nearly as vigorous as they were yesterday. A little afer noon on Thursday we had a lot of smoke blowing down into our neighborhood, but the wind also served to desperse the heavy ash that had been sitting on roofs, cars and other flat surfaces.

Our Watsonville Antique Fly-in is scheduled to go on as planned this Memorial Day weekend, as is the Blues Festival in Santa Cruz. I know everyone feels grateful for the hard work of firefighters and other emergency personnel who have kept things going in the face of adverse conditions. We're also thankful that the trees and brush weren't even more dry, since it's early in the season for wildfires. And I know the folks in Corralitos were cheering yesterday afternoon as a steady stream of fire trucks from other cities converged on their community to assist in battling the fire. Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for the fire-affected areas, which helps get funding and state assistance rolling. We all fuss about taxes, but this is one instance where we get to see a glimpse of what taxes can do when many agencies come together to relieve a problem.

posted at: 08:22 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry