Fire is this week’s theme. Friday, March 11th, Oklahoma experienced one of the scariest weather events we have. Tornadoes are pretty scary but even worse is prairie fire.
We experienced 32 grass fires across the state on Friday. The governor issued a state of emergency and Firefighters were out all over the state putting out fires that damaged and destroyed homes and barns and businesses. The fires in McClain county were started most likely by an arsonist. The origins were road side two miles apart. Some of the others were caused by careless smokers tossing cigarettes out of their cars.
The conditions were ripe for wild fires. 40-50mph wind gusts. Drought conditions. Low humidity. Idiot pyromaniacs and cigarette smokers. We see this every year here in Oklahoma. Why can’t people remember from one year to the next not to throw their cigarettes out of their cars? Its ignorance.
I took the Range Rover over to Newcastle to see if everything was fine at the family homestead and pick up mom’s mail. They had closed highway 9 on Friday due to smoke. It was open Saturday.
I expected to see more burned areas but the fire fighters were amazing and saved many people’s homes. I drove out to check on my friends that live just a mile and a half from the fires. All was well there at their homes. I had a nice chat and on my way out there was still a few fires burning. You can see a structure fire here in this picture and ahead of me on the other side of the highway a few hot spots were still smoldering in the woods there.
This week will also culminate in the first match of the Brimstone Cup, the annual competition between the Chicago Fire and FC Dallas. It is the closest MLS match to my home every year and it is sweeter that my Chicago Fire play in it. The match between the two teams has a long history which you can read about here.
I will be packing the tailgating gear into the Range Rover for the trip to Frisco, Texas. Tailgating with my friends who come down from Chicago is a treat.
I got a whopping 11 mpg out of the last tank of fuel. And with petrol now 3.29$(US) a gallon that hurts the pocket book. I’m not sure where to start to fix that problem. I’ve replaced the O2 sensors and have good spark. I’m guessing it is in the slipping of the transmission. I will have to get that sorted out this summer if I can get the money together.
So thankfully the fires are under control with a bit of weather change today (Sunday). The wind died down today and it is cloudy.