I’m OK in Sturgis with friends.
Good! I’m glad to hear it.
Is your home near the fire?
The news reports said it was about 180 acres in size, but that could change quickly.
I’m not very familiar with the Lead side of Deadwood. I used to teach at our geological field camp, which had, or has, a project on Whitewood Peak.
I hope they get this blaze knocked down quickly.
I worked for the Forest Service during the 1970s – as a matter of fact, that’s how I met my wife. On a long vacation out west last month, we both agreed that we had never seen anything like the dry conditions that exist now. In the sonoran desert of Arizona we used to worry that the spring rains would make the grass grow, and that it would then wither later in the summer to pose a huge fire danger. There isn’t any grass at all now, just a few tufts here and there.
One of the two fires that coalesced near Show Low, Arizona, was deliberately set by a hiker who had gotten lost and wanted to attract attention. What idiocy! I sincerely hope they found him.
Best regards,
Neil Dickey
[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2002-06-29 23:29 ]
from what I can tell from arial photos, my building was rright in the path of the fire, news reporting not very accurate, but got out with whistles, so have what I need for now…just feel a little grungy and anxious
At midnight it was estimated 2,000 acres…started by an idiot trying to burn a stump without permit, according to the rumor.
Looks like Lead is OK, evacuation optional
the sooner or better…little anxious wondering if I still have a home to go to when I get back
there’s been a on-going battle with the Sierra Club about controlled burns of dead trees where the bark beetles were…I caan do without the presence of Gov. Janklow, though and his idiotic media spin…they’re making out like he came in and ordered the evacuation…HA! I was amazed at how badly some people acted…some of the “nicest” people were total sh*ts and visa versa…nobody by me came to get Tom out, he’s 90. One woman said I couldn’t go with her because she had some body else…was just glad to get out, because they were not letting anybody in at all!
I do, too, too bad there isn’t some penalty for sheer idiocy, knowing Deadwoodm they’ll find somebody to blame…like Bin Laden…
Maybe Mt. Rushmore will be next to go!
Waiting for the Mothership…
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2002-06-30 06:39 ]
Actually Mount Rushmore is very near one of the largest tinderboxs in the country. There is a designated wilderness area around Harney Peak (in fact, you walk through it on the way to the top). They do NO forest management in wilderness areas, so with the number of serious snow and wind storms over the last 20 years there is a huge fuel load. The forest directly adjacent to it is managed but very dry and just waiting for a lightning strike. It’s only a matter of time before the area around Mount Rushmore is faced with a serious fire. (My father-in-law retired a couple of years ago from the Forest Service in the Black Hills so I get the inside scoop. He used to also be a fire chief on the big fires.).
To bring this back to topic, I’ve played a whistle while walking through this wilderness area 
Seriously, Anna, I hope that everything goes ok for you.
Erik
Anna –
There’s always some fool who doesn’t get the message. I do hope your home is safe.
It’s a bit of a shock if one has never seen it before, but put people under stress and you’ll see how thin the veneer of civilization actually is.
The tree huggers are discovering that tree hugging hurts when the trees are on fire.
ErikT –
I was in Yellowstone a couple of years before the Big Fire – on which my brother served in helitac. A bunch of us climbed the highest peak in the park to have a look around, and I was floored by what I saw. There were thick stands of ips-killed timber everywhere. I told my friends that if there were ever a spark there’d be a holocaust, and a couple of years later I was proven correct.
Handing the forest back to nature is at least six kinds of wonderful, but we should at least hand it back in good condition.
Best regards,
Neil Dickey
[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2002-06-30 12:14 ]
I agree Neil. Either we let wild fires burn on a regular and healthy basis (not real popular with homeowners) or we do forest management to reduce the fuel load left by restricting fires. Doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of room in between.
Funny (not funny ha ha) - I spoke to my father just minutes ago and the wilderness area that I talked about earlier is on fire (east of Harney Peak is the rumor). We’ll see whether they can put it out.
Erik
Whoa!!! I had no clue that fire was in your area Anna! Oh my gosh! I do hope that everything works out okay, and that everyone is safe and nobody’s house gets incinerated…
Here’s an article on the blaze:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,56600,00.html</a](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,56600,00.html">http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,56600,00.html</a)>
The southern Black Hills fire that the article mentions is the one near my folks.
Gosh Anna, there might not be enough left of the Black Hills to come home to (17 days and counting). Here’s hoping (and praying) for rain.
Erik
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2002-06-30 13:23 ]
if nothing else, it will be a joy to meet you and Julie and the kids! I’m anxious to see how they’ve grown in person instead of begging for pics!
Waiting for the Mothership…
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2002-06-30 15:17 ]
We’ll have to figure out when/where to meet. I’m sure that you’d be very welcome in my (or in-laws) home for lunch or dinner or something. Those Rockie Mountain Boys don’t have anything on the Black Hills Bunch 
Erik
Anna, I just heard the fire news about Deadwood and am SO glad you are ok!!! I live not too far from the Rodeo/Chediski fire (but am reasonably safe from it) and have been trying to keep up on fire news from all over. Globe was nearly evacuated last year because of a fire that came to within five miles of us, but it was put out before it damaged more than a few structures.
I trust you took your whistles with you when you had to evacuate, and that you played to cheer the evacuees up
I have a contingency plan now in case of fire - my animals, my whistles, my ID and bank card. If there is time and room, I will see about my satellite receiver and stuff that I wouldn’t be able to afford to replace. Not having a car is going to make it hard because I know people aren’t going to be very willing to let my two small dogs or kenneled cats in their nice clean cars 
As you said you are finding out, people are really generous unless they themselves are involved. It’s kind of scary tho.
Again, I am glad you are ok, and hope your place is ok too.
On 2002-06-30 15:29, ErikT wrote:
We’ll have to figure out when/where to meet. I’m sure that you’d be very welcome in my (or in-laws) home for lunch or dinner or something. Those Rockie Mountain Boys don’t have anything on the Black Hills Bunch >Erik
Not any more!
I took whistles, medication and the clothes on my back…feel grubby, and anxious
Over here in the soggy state of Michigan, I watched the news about Deadwood and told the band about Anna Martinez, the proud whistler I know from Chiff and Fipple. We played the “Woodchoppers” reel for you at our Saturday show!
Cara
Back home, everything OK, still smoky, not as smelly or as ugly as I thought it would be! Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and showers! Thanking the luck of the draw for making me a refugee for a couple of days, I can walk in those other shoes for a while…this is good…and maybe a few more Deadwoodies will be able to do that too and become more tolerant! I ran into the Mayor in K-Mart, he asked me what I grabbed, and when I told him whistles, he teased back “And you got the hell out of Deadwood!” Turns out my Arnold Schwatznegger imitation on the Terminator is acutally pretty good! I merrily gave away whistles, and played while this open house den on iniquity almost burned. Snerk! Oh, yeah I gave some whistles to some kids who had a lemonaide stand and used toy sale to send for the kids in Afganistan…nifty kid, and told him he could sell 'em if he wanted but to be sure to give a toy to a kid who wanted one and didn’t have the money! It was good to run into a musician I knew who grabbed his instrument, too! We weren’t so crazy after all, some of the local musicians gave a concert in Spearfish, and I was in Sturgis and missed it, and didnt get to play! Boo Hoo!
Glad you’re back in your home, Anna!
I was starting to worry about you!
Now you know, you don’t hear from me for a couple of weeks, with no notifcation, yu know Ive croaked! (Huggers, Sammy!)
Bad fire news in NORTH Dakota too. A huge prairie fire has totally wiped out the town of Shields. Four seperate fires in the Grant County and Standing Rock Reservation consumed over 12,000 acres. The arial photos look surreal. The Red Cross and Salvation Army are in high gear and have started relief efforts. Many homes are just plain gone. Family farms that have existed for generations are just gone.
This seems to be such a year of extremes. In spring it was so cold we wondered if summer would ever come. Well it did with a vengence. Last Saturday the temp. was 111 degrees with no real rain in sight. While on the east side of the state excess rain has washed many crops away.
Too bad we can’t average one side of the state with the other.
Anna, I hadn’t been reading the board, thank goodness everything is OK. ((((((hugs)))))))
—N
Still a little wacked out on anxiety…juts part of being in a naturtal disaster, but at least I’m behaving!