Time-lapse of the Schultz fire

It’s sort of strange in Flagstaff right now. Helicopters and planes rattle the buildings. If you live on the West side you see smoke, but the fire still feels somehow distant.  If you live on the east side of the mountains, however, you see this:

It’s pretty heart-breaking to watch. I hope they get it under control soon. There’s a new plume of smoke today, even though news reports say the blaze is 25% contained. The new smoke is reportedly from backburns, but it looks awfully big to me.

I’m afraid to see the forest when all of this is over. They say it won’t be restored to its previous state for over a century, so that of course means that not even my children will be able to experience the forests in the burn area during their lifetime. The woods my wife played in as a child are all decimated. They still haven’t closed the national forest down, which is extraordinarily frustrating. We have no more resources to fight another one of these if another idiot decides to abandon or lose control of a campfire, or tosses a cigarette into the brush.