No Bueno...

[Stepside65]

Sunday was, to say the least, an interesting day. Took a family and friends fishing trip up to Ruidoso, NM. Was windy as hell but hey we caught a lot of fish so all was well. Couldn't eat our sanwhich picnic due to the winds so we decided to go to denny's in town. When we got out and went in everything was fine just windy. We had barely been in the place long enough for the kids to wash their hands and sit down when some lady came rushing in hollering call 911 something is on fire. We though she was talking about the ramada inn next to us so I went out to see if I needed to move the cars. To my horror the ramada was fine but the hillside immediately behind the restaurant was up in flames. I ran back in and pulled everybody out with the menus still on the table (we were just starting to order drinks) and got everybody (all 10 of us) loaded in the cars and raced back down the mountain. The scary part is my wife is allergic to mesquite so I thought I was going to have to take her to the ER but fortunately we got out there before she got too much smoke in her. Too close for comfort.

less than 1/8 of a mile away on the hill top and coming our way

another pic from our retreat

[Str8axle]

WOW!!! Glad to hear you escaped unharmed. Forrest fire is always a major threat here where I live. Two streets over from my house is state forrest. It can get really scary. Especially, how windy it's been the past few weeks. Good to hear you all are safe.

[markeb01]

Yikes! Good thing you took quick action, especially with the allergies. Long ago I discovered I was alergic to walnut when I was fabricating some pistol grips out of a big block of the stuff. After grinding and shaping for about an hour I came in a showered up, only to discover I was covered with a nasty rash. If you're allergic, ingesting can be just as bad as rolling around in it.

[Surfdaddy]

I know how you feel. It seems like every year we get fires so close to the house or close enough to ruin the air. Fires are pretty scarry. This was about 300 yards from my house last year. You really never know how fast fire can move until you see it driven by the wind. I hate fires. We also had a real big fire last year (The Station fire) which closed work for 3 days and caused all sorts of trouble.

[fastwillie 696969]

new mexico looks alot like nevada it must be the desert mountains

[JHT67]

How do you prepare for something like this, is there any more safety to living on a hill to being in a valley, or vice versa. Stepeside65 and Surfdaddy, could either of you feel the heat from the fire? That has got to be one panic filled nerve racking situation.

NO or ON A DRY WINDY DAY!

[Stepside65]

Originally Posted by JHT67

How do you prepare for something like this, is there any more safety to living on a hill to being in a valley, or vice versa. Stepeside65 and Surfdaddy, could either of you feel the heat from the fire? That has got to be one panic filled nerve racking situation.

NO or ON A DRY WINDY DAY!

Too dam windy to really feel it on our part. had winds sustained at around 50 and gusts up to 64. In the 3 minutes it took us to get out denny's and all 9 of us loaded into the cars the smoke was already starting to blow over the place. they actually shut down US 70 due to the smoke reducing visibility to 0 before the flames jumped the highway. news report said there were 100 foot flames... I live down in the tularosa basin (which is about 70 miles across) so I have plenty of warning even if a fire started down here.

[Surfdaddy]

About 5 years ago we ahd a much bigger fire the hills in teh backround of my pictures had caught fire it hadn't burned in 40 years so it was pretty thick brush. The fire started about 2 miles away around noon by 2pm the hole mountian was on fire and the sheriff told us to evacuate. We couldn't because there is only on street on to our tract and the fire dept was using it as a stageing area. We could actually feel the heat from the fire about 1/8th of a mile away. We knew that the wind was blowing away from us so we would be safe, We just sat out on the back yard and had a few drinks watching the fire go by. Other than keepting your hill side clear of brush and getting your belongings packed there isn't anything you can do about it.