Chaparral –
humble wood reflecting The Carpenter
himself –
deep reddish-brown
when stained and waxed,
gnarled and bent,
makes the perfect altar rail
for receiving the Blessed Sacrament
in humility of heart;
a place of sanctuary for the weary soul.
Sanctuary now
as wildfire edges toward the town.
Endless days of drought,
temperatures triple-figured,
Path-66 powerlines arced,
or vandal threw a match -
How? It matters not.
Chaparral burns hot
once its oils are heated,
and makes a perfect starter-fuel.
Through Ponderosa Pines
crested fire leaps,
pushed onward, upward
by the fickle winds.
And soon the fire jumps
containment lines,
and wildfire becomes
Firestorm –
a Dresden
in the Shasta County woods.
People flee.
Two villages die,
consumed, gutted,
overwhelmed by flames beyond
firefighters’imaginations.
Ranchers flee,
driven ever northward
by advancing flames,
their cattle left to die.
A killing zone 64,000 acres deep,
all wildlife become burnt offerings.
Dams and streams
licked dry
as heat ignites
trees half a mile ahead.
Seven days of this,
then winds shift.
Firestorm passes its peak,
burns back upon itself,
and dies.
Exhausted firefighters douse
remaining hotspots,
refugees return to assess
their loss –
and weep.
Logging here will soon fail,
unemployment rising,
sawmills closed.
Ranches burned out,
some abandoned.
Population in decline.
And then bow
humble supplicants,
hands on that humble chaparral,
giving thanks and praise to God
no lives were lost
in the ‘Fountain Fire.’
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Author notes
A gigantic fire, worst in California history up until that time, and called the ‘Fountain Fire’ after a local historic landmark, started on August 20, 1992. It'd destroyed the entire community of Round Mountain, where I had worked years before. The fire burned 64,000 acres, and also destroyed most of the nearby village of Montgomery Creek. Refugees fled to Burney and Redding, taking refuge wherever they could; leaving their homes and belongings to be consumed. Enough lumber to build 52,000 homes was destroyed. To the north, the city of Burney was threatened as well. The fire lasted a week, and the cleanup took months. After 25 years the area is still struggling to repopulate.
A timber worker died during the cleanup.
Photo is from that area after the cleanup.
Comments
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I found this a very moving portrait
of the progress of a fire, I liked its vivid, accurate images, particularly
Dams and streams
evaporate
as heat ignites
trees half a mile ahead.
And then it deals with the aftermath of such an event - not just what you see on the news but what most of us will son be forgetting about. Very nice.
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