Fire on the mountain

[ellarien]

The Santa Anas are coming, and the Station Fire isn't quite fully contained, let alone out. It's been pretty quiet by Mount Wilson the last few days, but over the weekend the firefighters have been pretty busy dropping water from planes and helicopters, hoping to damp down the last smouldering hotspots before the winds come; now and again the towercam catches a glimpse of one. I've been keeping an eye on it. This afternoon there were plumes of smoke puffing up from the mountains on the other side of the valley every few minutes, there in one frame and then gone the next. Hot spots heating up, or dust-devils of ash, or reactions to something the tankers were doing? I don't know, but it was a worrying sight. It calmed down after about 3.30, and it all looks pretty dark and peaceful now.

Meanwhile, MODIS is showing a tiny new fire up to the north of Sonoma county, in the mountains. (Google Earth fire-detections.) That one doesn't have a name or a website that I can find -- at least not yet.