1.) Wild Bob - 07/25/2017

I heard mention on the radio this morning that there are currently 36 active forest fires...16 of which are located in Montana. It's easy to hear this kind of report and write it off without a thought that it doesn't or won't effect you, or your loved ones, or friends. But I'd like to remind everyone that it does effect fellow Americans and many people that live off of or close to the land. The very land that 'the chosen party' would love to see sold off and liquidated to the highest bidders...(sorry, I'll try to not let my bad attitude about that issue get in the way...too much. But the fact about that remains that the rest of the country need to know what our beloved, fearless leaders :re: are trying to do right under everyone's noses.)

This little video is from the Lodge Pole Fires (which is actually several fires that are burning close together, that is why it's termed a 'complex'). Not to be confused with a developed complex; there are not complexes in this area in the popular term - this area as you can see in the video is very rural and remote for the lower 48.

On a somber note, this fire is very serious and has burned out ranchers and homes, and destroyed unknown amounts of agricultural, cultural, and natural resources. Not to mention the loss of wildlife. On a less that life threatening note; it is currently knocking on the back door to the area that I elk hunt. But I'd trade that area in a heartbeat if it would mean protecting lives, homes and ways of life for my fellow Montanans; unfortunately, we have no control over that!

Hopefully this video link will work and give a glimpse into the hollow reports given on radios and TV's around the country. I'll try to post additional videos and or pictures as

2.) Swamp Fox - 07/25/2017

Wildfires are nothing to sneeze at. The big one in the Smokies in east Tennessee last year killed 14 people, I think. Burned lots of homes and property. They arrested two kids who were "playing with matches" but I don't know if they've gone to trial yet. I remember we had thick haze here for at least a couple of days, and I'm six or more hours away. Pretty amazing.

Hope everything works out out there. I hunted after this wildfire in NW Nebraska in 2012, and it was amazing to behold the landscape. Combined with bad EHD that year, it was tough. I had a few buck encounters some distance away from the burned area, some pretty memorable, but either no shots were offered or the bucks were not "Nebraska-worthy."


[url]http://netnebraska.org/article/news/some-lost-everything-wildfires-nebraska-leave-future-uncertain[/url]

3.) Wild Bob - 07/26/2017

I still have some family back in Tennessee and they kept me up to date on that one. That had to be one of, if not the worst forest fire the Appalachians has seen in a long time! I imagine it's only going to become even more of a hazard due to the beetle infestations (both east and west).

My wife and I spent our honeymoon many moons ago, in a cabin east of Pigeon Forge and from what I understand, it was lost in that fire.

4.) Wild Bob - 07/28/2017

Some open ground firefighting pictures that I came across from the area: