We later learned the fire had raced north of the house, then part of it turned back along Bridger Canyon Road while another arm continued to expand northward. When we finally got a chance to see the house, we saw the grass all around had burned but the grass near the house (aka lawn) was too short to sustain fire. We also learned firemen and neighbor volunteers had pitched in to save the Carriage House and even our little Garden Shed. The Storage Shed up the old road was not threatened. Firemen were able to use our driveway as a fire break to keep the fire from spreading further back down the canyon. At one point a helicopter may have dumped water on one of our structures to protect it. So, none of our structures were lost or damaged. The fire destroyed 30 homes, damaged 6 homes, destroyed numerous other structures and damaged many miles of fences. There were no serious injuries, but three firefighters had to deploy their shelters and let the fire burn past them.

Subsequent walks around the remote western parts of our property have revealed numerous spot fires the firemen on the ground or in helicopters must have put out. Their efforts prevented what would otherwise have been extensive loss of our forest and kept the fire from spreading back north into Bridger Hills to threaten homes not consumed by the fire that had raced through the day before.

If you click through to the large version of the picture, you will see white patches on the canyon wall north of the house. On September 7 the fire was slowed down by a cold front that brought rain, plus some snow at higher elevations. Temperatures soon returned to normal and it is expected the remnants of the fire will continue to smolder and possibly reignite until there is significant snowfall.