Just in case you’ve been wondering what all the hullabaloo has been about this summer, all you have to do is look north.
It the wind ever turns from that direction again, expect to get a whiff or singe on the air.
As the Associated Press reported this week:
“Authorities say a giant, wind-swept wildfire has burned more than 40-square miles in central Nebraska, destroying one home and sending one person to the hospital with burns.
“The fire started Tuesday near Stapleton, about 230 miles west of Omaha, and quickly raced through farm fields and yards and trees.
“Stapleton Fire Chief Frank Kramer says aircraft are being prepared to fly over the area and dump water on the blaze. Hundreds of firefighters from as many as 60 departments across the state are helping fight the fire.
“Kramer says they are preparing for the worst Wednesday as temperatures rise and winds pick up.”
That’s a lot of fire, and even in Nebraska, 40-square miles is a great loss.
This is why local officials have been so careful all summer, why the Barton County fire chiefs have been pushing for burning bans and why rural residents have been encouraged to be extra careful.
As dry, hot and windy as it’s been, it just doesn’t take much to get this kind of damage, and once it really gets going, good luck stopping it.
The hopes and prayers of this country are for moisture to come at the end of the week, but even that is not going to instantly clear up the danger. There is just too much fuel out there, waiting to catch fire.
We need to be careful through a couple more wet seasons — if they ever come again.
And pray for rain, like we mean it.
— Chuck Smith