I looked up from my lunch to see smoke rising from the middle of the valley. At first it looked like a burn pile but the plume quickly grew and it suddenly had my full attention. I called 911 and got through to the fire department who were already on their way. Then I called David Huebel who, from my vantage point, lives directly behind the smoke, he had also called it in and after a quick conversation we pinned the fire as directly between us. Fire trucks passed by him going north and then by me headed south from Geyserville. I had a house full of kids so I thought it best to keep an eye on this things from afar. I always keep my painting kits packed and ready to go so I grabbed it and set up on the driveway to try and capture the scene. The fire department had the grass fire out before I could finish my sketch. Dang those guys are good. My hats off to them.

Talking to my Uncle Jim after the fact, it sounds like the fire happened over at the Jackson’s property, he thinks they were mowing the tall grass to reduce the chance of a fire and one of the blades struck a rock. Apparently two of our crew, Colan and Antonio, were over there with a water truck before the fire department arrived and helped put it out. Major props to them.