Fall Color

What a gorgeous fall day! It is absolutely incredible here today. I'm a little sad I had a full day of office work planned :(! I did sneak outside for a few moments to "take this photo" and drink in the sights of Autumn! I'm not sure if the campers even notice in the summertime, but camp is covered with apple trees that date back to "Johnny Appleseed" times. The apples are delicious! The deer and horses agree wholeheartedly.

We have also been thinking so much about our friends and the members of our camp family who are being so devastated by the wildland fires in Southern California. After experiencing a major fire this fall ourselves, we know the stress people are under and wish we were closer and could offer our help and support in person. Instead, we're just sending our thoughts and prayers.

Our fall newsletter just went out in the mail. Please let us know if you don't receive one, we would be happy to re-send it.

Have a wonderful day!

Becky

Volunteer Season

Wow, I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted. Time flies. Most everything is back to normal here at camp since the fire was contained. The girls went back to school and Lornie, Craig and I jumped right into Volunteer Season. Ryleigh is in the first grade this year and Sutter is a Sophomore. They both attend school here in Greenville. Our school is very small, and as with most public schools in California is facing a funding crisis. The need for parent volunteers and help with fund raising is almost overwhelming, especially because our school is so small there just isn't enough help to go around all the time. Lauren coaches Junior High Volleyball, helps with the driving for Sutter's high school Volleyball team, is a member of the Booster club, is on the board of the Western Association of Independent Camps and just recently got involved with the Save Our Schools ballot initiative. I volunteer in Ryleigh's class, and am the Secretary of Parent's Club (our PTA). Craig is conscripted by all of us for all sorts of "man tasks" and coaches Ryleigh's 1st/2nd grade soccer team. PHEW! Just typing it exhausts me. Plus, we are still working here at camp, putting everything to bed, updating the website and brochure, and keeping the horses going. After running camp all summer, I think we are all so anxious to re-connect with our own children, we jump into the school schedule with guns blazing.

It is also so difficult when you see a need and know you have the skills and resources to fill it not to jump in and help. Especially, when you know the need might go un-met if you don't volunteer. The flip side is we are all running around like crazy people :)! I'm sure many of you understand the challenges of volunteering! We really just want positive, enriching experiences for our children at the end of the day. Isn't that what every parent wants?

If you are interested in learning about the Save our Schools initiative here in Plumas County, please visit their website at www.plumassos.net. The group will be working over the next several months to raise enough money to get a measure on the ballot. The hope is to pass a parcel tax which will directly fund our school district, and give us some independence from the rise and fall of State and Federal Funding.

Off to pick up Ryleigh!
Becky

Friday Morning Update

I think today is the last day I will need to do a daily update! Here is the fire report updated as of 10:30 a.m.

Great news all the way around. The Moonlight Wildfire containment lines held firm last night through the Red Flag event with 64,997 total acres burned and 90% containment. Though InciWeb is showing a rounded up 65,000 acres, we are keeping ours at 64,997 as the official "209" report shows. Winds were actually beneficial in reducing the risk to lines and aided the heavy burning of interior fuels. Mop-up efforts are continuing at 100-500' in from the fireline. With five miles of fireline left to build, full containment is expected by Monday, Sept. 17, 2007!!! HIP, HIP HOORAY!

The Greenville, Taylorsville, and Indian Valley areas will be smokey in the morning for the next few days due to smoke funneling down drainages and an inversion layer predicted by weather forecasters. With less wind, these areas will get smokey, but should clear by afternoon as light winds help to blow the smoke away. Those in the Susanville and Janesville areas may see smoke for the next few days due to the southwest winds.
Humidity levels will rise through tonight and temperatures will be colder, aiding the firefighters efforts.

During the day 19 helicopters, 35 dozers, 41 water tenders, and 135 engines are assisted by 95 fire crews.

According to SIFC Aircraft Dispatcher Bob Bare, Tanker 09 is standing by at the Chester Airport in case they need it.

Some crews will begin to demobilize as they reach their 14-day limit. 21 crews, 34 engines, six helicoptors and all OES engines will be released from the fire as of 6 p.m. Friday night.

The spike camp at Murdock Crossing is being closed.

Air operations logged over 1000 hours of flight time and 1/2 million gallons of retardant was pumped out of the Chester Air Base alone.

$22.2 million has been spent to date to fight this fire. Only 28 minor injuries occurred while personnel logged in 430,000 person hours. 3,216 personnel are still in mop up operations and support.

The mandatory evacuation for Franks Valley has been lifted, but the order still continues for Antelope Lake, Wilcox Valley and Taylor Lake areas as they are still within the fires lines.

There is minimal potential for fire spread, if any, it is predicted to be to the Northeast. Minimal night operations are expected Friday night.

The official report this morning had this comment, "Four burned structures were found yesterday. The type of structures and historic value is being evaluated." As more details about these structures becomes available, we will pass it on to our readers, but at this time, Fire Information officers have no further knowledge than what is written in the report.

I think we will spend the next several weeks counting our many blessings. Here are just a few: we are grateful for the firefighters and public safety officers who worked so hard to contain this fire and protect us at great personal sacrifice, we are grateful to live in such a wonderful community with such giving and caring neighbors who were so willing to help in our time of need, we are grateful no one was killed or seriously injured by this fire, we are grateful Coppercreek came through this unscathed, we are grateful to the Coppercreek community for their prayers and good thoughts (we are sure they helped!), and we are grateful to Plumas News and their blog site for keeping all of the information about this fire at our fingertips!

Stay Safe! Big Coppercreek hugs to all!
Becky

Thursday's Update! 77% Contained!

The horses are all home and the fire is 77% contained. They have also lifted the mandatory evacuations for our neighbors out on North Arm. Fire officials are a little bit worried about the expected winds today. The forecast is for a low pressure system to move into the area and bring with it 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. However if the fire lines hold through this wind event. They will start sending some of these crews home for a well deserved rest! We are starting to feel the relief of the major threat being past us. I think we all feel like we could sleep for a week! It has definitely been a long and stressful 10 days.

This is a photo of pieces of burnt bark that Ryleigh and I picked up walking through the meadow yesterday. There is burnt bark, leaves, manzanita and ash everywhere! You can just walk through the open areas of camp and pick up as much as you like.
We were so lucky!! We feel very blessed and grateful.
Thank you all again for checking in, and your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate having you as part of our camp community.

Becky

Wednesday Morning! 58% Contained!

Firefighters had another great night and we are up to 58% contained this morning. We also woke up to fairly clear skies. It feels like we have finally turned a corner, and this fire might be contained soon. It has burned 64,271 (100 square miles) acres so far. Fire officials are still concerned about the active areas you see on this morning's map. The wind is supposed to come up again this afternoon and tomorrow, but we are hopeful the cool temperatures will help them keep making progress toward containment. We brought 13 horses home yesterday and hope to bring another few loads today.

Thank you all for your good thoughts! I think they definitely helped!
Becky

Tuesday Update

The firefighters had another good day & night. The fire is at 63,418 acres. They were able to keep it's growth to just 600 acres yesterday and it is now 33% contained!! This is the Modis picture from 7 am. It hasn't changed much in the last few days. The winds didn't materialize again yesterday. We hope all this news means we are turning the corner and the firefighters are getting a handle on this fire. They used the big DC-10 yesterday to drop retardant on Wildcat Ridge. I guess it was a sight to see. The kids are out of school again. There are still too many people displaced and Taylorsville is still in the fire's path. We are discussing bringing a few horses home today. We will watch through the rest of today and make some decisions this afternoon.

Thank you again for all of the nice notes, e-mails and offers of help. It is so nice to know we have such a large community willing to help in our time of need.
Becky

Monday Update

Well, we have good news. The wind that was expected to blow yesterday didn't! The fire didn't grow much last night and firefighters were able to strengthen the fire lines nearest us. The fire is at 62,000 acres, or almost 98 square miles, and is still only 16% contained. I didn't get any photos yesterday because the smoke was so thick. The mountains behind camp are hardly visible again this morning. School was cancelled again due to the smoke and fire danger. They are expecting some extreme fire behavior today due to the low humidity. We really need some rain and clouds!! It would help the fire personnel so much. Unfortunately there are no storms on the horizon at the moment. Lornie and Sutter are back in Quincy this morning, feeding, watering and caring for the horses. Craig found Lynne's scanner yesterday, so we have been able to listen to some of the official radio traffic. It will be very nice to have the scanner if anything changes in the next day or so, but we are crossing our fingers that things are looking better and progress is being made towards getting this fire out.

Take care! We hope all is well with you and your families!

Becky