25th - Hot and smoky

RAFTING TRIP

On Sunday we went whitewater rafting down the Gallatin River. Here are some of the pictures.

Cooler today

We will try to get some pictures of our rafting trip last weekend posted soon.

You can keep up with the fires that are burning near Helena at :

http://helenair.com

Fire

In the picture above, there is an air tanker dropping fire retardant.

There is a lightning-caused fire burning about 30 miles away from here, in the Wolf Creek area. Friday, a group of people and equipment from neighboring volunteer departments was put together to relieve the Wolf Creek VFD for a day. Me and another York volunteer took York's water tanker truck.

The Forest Service is responsible for fighting fires on National Forest lands, and the local departments are responsible for protecting non-Forest Service structures. Our group had two engines and one tanker truck (tender) and were to protect any structures in the Little Wolf Creek drainage.

There were two helicopters and two air tankers dropping water and retardant on the fire.

The weather and wind were mostly good and kept the fire from growing too much. No houses were threatened while we were there.

Click on the box, then click on the play button to see video: