Every Business Has Its Own Nature To Respect |
That being said, I watched a small lighting fire get out of hand in a small community recently. At first what seemed to be a small manageable fire quickly grew out of control and turned itself into something very dangerous. It has not yet taken a human life but has destroyed homes, property and natures friendly ways where the fire damage has occurred. It is still burning out of control.
One the third day of fire fighting, the local crews recognized the need to solicit more help. The State dedicated the funds and the phone calls were made. In short order hundreds of fire fighting crews from nearby regions headed to help fight this terrible fire. The State sent in its State Fire Marshall's to oversee the early arrangements of the organizational post. Several other leaders in the fire fighting community convened on the base to develop a game plan. The next morning we witnessed hundreds of fire trucks, loggers, tractors, large bulldozers, fire trucks, tankers, helicopters and spotter planes moving about to go do their job to arrest this fire. The winds were huge. Fueling the flames was a 30 knot set of gusty winds moving the fire deeper into the upper hills and dry lands. Some structures would be at risk with these fast moving flames.
The fire crews had their orders. The game plan was put in place. The maps, the satellite images, the radios, the computers and the technology was all fired up. These leaders headed to that ragging fire with a very organized bunch of well-trained firefighters. The day of attack was now in place. The plan was full steam ahead.
By the end of the day, some progress had been made. The winds won the day but the firefighters were able to get all of their heavy equipment placed well ahead of the fires path and begin breaking a large swath in the rugged hills for the fire lines they were making. The plan looked good. Their solutions were working.
Then came the next morning. Miles above this hilly region is a great snow-capped mountain. This mountain produces some very cool breezes that each morning draw down into the valleys until it reaches the large river at the bottom of all of the draws. This nasty fire happens to be placed somewhere in the middle portion of one of those draws. The heavy 30 knot winds of yesterday were being forced by nature to travel up to the mountain in those draws. That caused the fire to move uphill, quickly. This is exactly how the 'newcomers' in the area expected those winds to move. They were correct with those assumptions yesterday. That is why they had placed and arranged to move all of their heavy equipment up the rugged hills ahead of the fire. They wanted to get well ahead of the fast moving flames and make a huge fire line to remove the material the fire could consume. This way they could lower the intensity of the fire and put it out. It would burn itself out.
However, first thing in the morning the winds shifted. The cool air moved down the hill in completely the opposite direction where all of the fire fighting equipment was located. The leaders of the fire crews got caught off guard. They did not know about these unique pressures the sea, river, mountain and gorge designed regions produce. Each morning the winds go the other direction until about 9 A.M. when they finally shift around as the land mass heats up for the day. The cooler mornings produce moderate winds going downhill and northward. This is exactly the opposite direction they were planned to protect.
Let's evaluate this scenario. Page two.