We are in the foothills on the western side of the mountains. It is probably 90 miles from the nearest large fire, but the moon was red last night and the sun is orange. This morning the car was covered with ash. And of course is smells like fire.
Someone should really be held accountable for this forest mismanagement, but the problem is now endemic among the leadership. So axing one head in the forest service will just get you the next in line who thinks the same way. My long retired uncle was once one of the head guys in the forest service. He started out fighting wild fires while studying forest management in college. Later in his career it seemed he was always on the front lines as well. I haven't talked about this latest debacle with him but he has been the primary influence on my point of view.
OT, but we visited the Fallen Firefignters Memorial in Colo Springs yesterday. It's really hard seeing all the names of the fallen IAFF fire fighters, but especially hard when you come to the 9/11 section. Lots of tears there.