We made a choice to travel home down through Oregon to Mount Shasta and then up to Reno. This has been a really bad choice during all the wildfires. There is thick smoke so much that Ron is currently sleeping with a mask in a Reno hotel room with AC. The reality for us is we will hop back in our rv and hit the road to fresher air. The reality to all these people who live here and the cows and horses we are passing is that they are breathing this for days, weeks or months. I cannot even imagine the firefighters working on the frontlines where the smoke must make breathing impossible while they bust their butts. The heat and smoke must make their tasks insurmountable but they stick with it to protect people's homes and properties. We saw houses with their backyards burned to within ten feet of their backyards, fields of crops charred and so much devastation. It truthfully looked like a war zone driving through. When we were right beside Mount Shasta we couldn't even see that magnificent mountain.
I don't know the answer to preventing these massive wildfires. Forest management, stop allowing forest access, stop making lighters, ban lightning and matches are not going to prevent all fires. Ironic that man spent their early years trying to make fire and now all these centuries later can't seem to control it. God knows there are hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, volcanoes and so many other natural events to deal with. Some have immediate devastating consequences and some have effects over a lifetime. I'm sure those who are losing homes to these blazes are impacted right now but the people living in this unhealthy smoke filled air may have health effects that impact their lives for the rest of their lives.
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