Fire on the Mountain!!!

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When I drove into town this morning for the writers group reading at the Nuevea Posada, it looked like one of our formerly dormant volcanoes on the range between where I live lakeside and the road to Guadalajara had gone active again, and was erupting!

(Click on all photos to enlarge.)

What I was actually seeing, however, was a huge fire that has been burning for a couple of days now on the other side of the ridge. As I left the reading and went east on the Carretera, I could see that between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. the fire  had jumped over the ridge in four places and  spread to the Ajijic side of the mountains.

As we pulled into the Centro Mall parking lot, we heard helicopters.  They were scooping water out of the lake and flying it overhead to dump on the fires.

All-in-all, an eventful couple of days for lakeside and environs. I can’t see the fire from my house, but last night I was well aware of the smoke and had to close all the doors and windows up tight. Here’s hoping all the firefighters remain safe and that the winds do not mount during the night.

These fires happen every year around lakeside when brush and grass is tinderbox dry, often prompted by farmers burning off their fields before the rainy season. One year, much of Mt. Garcia across the lake was on fire. (go HERE to see and hear about those fires.) Another year, it was the whole range behind my house.( Go HERE to see photos of this fire.) This is the first time I’ve seen a fire of this magnitude in the hills above Ajijic, however.  It has some distance to go before it reaches any dwellings on this side of the ridge, but if a high wind were to kick up tonight, it could spread fast.  Crossed fingers.

21 thoughts on “Fire on the Mountain!!!”

  1. lynnstrough's avatarlynnstrough

    Wow! Stay safe Judy!! I saw a similar scenario in Napa behind a winery where I worked – the helicopters were scooping water up from the neighboring winery’s retention pond. Very scary!! Hope it’s under control soon xo

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  3. slmret's avatarslmret

    That’s scary, Judy — and it’s hard to know how far away fire is from photos! I hope the winds don’t kick up, or that they turn and go the other way. Stay alert, stay safe, and get out if you need to! We are also beginning to see small roadside fires, where the wildflowers (mostly mustard and grasses) have begun to dry out — I fear it may be a bad fire year here as well, but for now we are having May Gray drippy mornings to keep the weeds damp. STAY SAFE!

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    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      I’m 8 miles away, Janet.. I’ve had the entire range of mountains behind me on fire and felt no danger, simply because my house is all clay, concrete and tile. My trees are well watered. Probably should have the dry fronds and fruiting stems trimmed out of my trees by they are home and sustenance for so many birds that I hate to.

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  5. Eilene Lyon's avatarEilene Lyon

    I know what it’s like. We have a huge fire here last year. I can see four burns from my house. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking, and all the smoke sucks! Stay safe and keep those windows closed. Hopefully they’ll keep it far from you and no one will get hurt or lose a home.

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            1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

              I hope so. I love Colorado. I went to the U. of Wyoming in Laramie and later taught in Cheyenne. Spent a lot of time in Colorado–skiing and drinking 3.2 beer. Ha. And shopping. Years later I did the Cherry Creek Festival for a few years. Lots of good memories.

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