The Recovery Begins

From Rosemary: The fire is now 60% contained, and they're hoping for full containment within the next few days, if winds and weather cooperate. This does not mean the fire is out; just that they are able to keep it from spreading. They expect to be a full month mopping up. Areas of unroaded wilderness with extremely high tourism values - as on the south side of Charlotte Lake - now have a network of cat-roads. These will all be deactivated, and there are people working on the rehabilitation plans already. I've attached pictures of John Edwards' Lonesome Lake homestead - there's a surprising amount of still-green area around it; the fire looped around that patch of deciduous trees and made a bee-line for John's cabins. Just a few hours later and the sprinkler systems would have been in place. So sad. [click to see photos larger]

    

It's good news about Vicky the fox. John broke down and cried when he heard she was still alive. The fire boss is taking him in this morning by helicopter so he can see for himself. Yesterday when a fire crew dropped into the site to check for hot spots on John's homestead Vicky came out and accepted a sandwich from them! She ate the meat and carefully buried the rest in several places. The crew said there were also some squirrels around. And so the recovery begins. Still a huge amount to do, and people from Anahim and Nimpo who have been hired to help will be working for a while yet. But we feel a lessening of anxiety and can start making plans again that aren't fire related! But I, for one, will not take any trips away from home just yet. Just in case... Rosemary