Once upon a time, in Billings MT, a wildfire was set accidentally by an idiot with a 4th of July rocket. I happened to be married to that idiot at the time.
We had a few couple large rockets and went up to the rimrocks overlooking the city to watch the city fireworks display and to set off the rockets we bought. After the city's display, my idiot lit the fuse of the first rocket and away it went, sort of. We watched as the wind picked up and the rocket veered off into the dry summer grasses and caught fire. The small flames quickly burned the surrounding grasses and helped by the wind, spread in seconds. The terrain was rocky with sagebrush, pine, and grasses, but no structures. The fire roared across the cliffside, consuming trees, grasses, and anything in its path. I wondered how many animals were caught in it. The trees burned incredibly fast with super bright white-yellow flames over 30 ft high. My stepdaughter asked, "Is Daddy going to jail?" I had to admit to her that I really didn't know. Even though we watched from a vantage point of 150 feet above the fire, the fire raised the temperature of the air around us probably 40 degrees hotter than it had been before. It was frightening, exciting, and I was in awe of the energy and heat of it. It happened so fast. We held hands. We were powerless and could do nothing but watch. I thought everything alive was going to burn and leave only the sandstone and shale. The fire burned a few acres in what seemed like minutes. However a water tanker happened to be driving by on his way home, and quickly dumped most of his water down the cliffside to put it out. I think the driest fuel burned quickly and the fire was easier to put out after that fuel was gone.
Some of the vegetation survived. No police arrived and no one was arrested.
Wow! You have a great title and wonderful storytelling skills. That was quite entertaining. I’m glad no one got arrested. That would have been a bit scary if the fire had gotten out of hand. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete