Happy 666

In honor of today's date I've been thinking a lot about fire and hell and how closely the Arizona wilderness takes on the characteristics of Hades, especially this time of year. Currently, there are about 12 wild fires burning around the state. Some of these were caused by lightening, others by humans. With the intense lack of rain this year, our wildfire season began early and is off to an avenging start.

As you might imagine tumbleweeds make for great tinder. Tumbleweeds that have yet to tumble are even more dangerous as brush ignites if you so much as rub your thigh against it. Combine all this potential combustibility with a dew point of, oh say, Zero and temperatures hovering around 107, and the outcome ain't purty.

The season for wildfires has just begun too which is making it even more frustrating for all the firefighters out there working to keep things under control. I've got to hand it to them, I have no idea how they do their job. Literally, hundreds of men are out there on rocky mountains sweating under 30 pounds of gear, staggering temperatures, and smoke. They brave it out though digging trenches and removing hazardous brush. The least we can do is exert some care when playing outside with fire.