Today could be another turning point day. It is hard to judge what the weather is doing at home from my perch here at the community center in Grand Marais. The sun was out early, but now it is getting cloudy. I don't think that it will bring rain.
Greg and Robert left after church to go back up the trail. They have received permission from the sheriff's department to travel up there and assist the local volunteer fire department. Many hands are needed to keep the sprinkler systems running. As the propane tanks run out, they must be swapped with refills. Greg and Mark Darling were doing this on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (until evac time). They would drive around on their designated route, grab tanks, bring them to a refill station further up the Trail, and then return them to systems. Robert will now be with Greg for this task. Mark has stayed up the Trail from the beginning, doing all sorts of jobs with the fire department.
They did get the okay to go in to our lodge yesterday. They found that Shar's house and the rustics had been set up with a sprinkler system. The lodge and our cabins still had only the basic systems that Mark and Nathan Dexter and Paul had put up on Thursday. Greg talked to a few people working nearby, in hopes that we could get a few extra sprinkler systems like Sharlene's. The coverage was much more adequate then what we originally were using. Whether that has been done, I don't know. I'll know more tonight after Greg calls me.
The fire fighters are continuing to use Spruce cabin to sleep in during the day. They are part of the night crew that first stayed with us on Tuesday. Greg found a note on the counter that they are writing on each day to let us know who is staying there and when. I take this as a really good sign. If they are writing to me, they expect that I will be able to read it once I'm back home. It also means that a fire truck is parked right there each day.
The daily briefing brought us the news of 15% containment of the fire. This includes the north side of Gunflint Lake. It is cooling off considerably on that side. Today's work is to fight against the southeast winds, with much effort concentrated in the Gunflint/Loon Lakes area. At the same time, other crews are working to strengthen fire lines on the other side, because tomorrow the winds are predicted to be from the northwest. We heard at the meeting this morning that the Incident Command people have ordered up that both those winds---the southeast and the northwest--come at the same time and blow against each other---think it can be arranged? That brought a chuckle from everyone. It is so important for us to keep our sense of humor intact. In addition to everyone's thoughts and prayers, it is another part of the picture that really keeps us going.
It's Monday tomorrow, and I really have to get back to work. I am hoping to set up a temporary office out of the bus, and try to get back to a sense of "business as usual", at least as far as the deskwork is concerned. And Paul and Addie need to get back to their schoolwork, to finish out the year. Addie is due to go join Shar and Jim in Alaska at the end of the month. Even more important, Paul needs to finish his schoolwork so that he can graduate. We're navigating in a new situation, but you know us---if nothing else, we can be really flexible.
To all of the moms---Happy Happy Mother's Day! We need something good to celebrate!
Talk to you again soon.
Barb
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