unsolved mystery

I got stuck there at the end of the last posting...and got a little sentimental. It was good though being able to reminisce over this last year with a smile and have a sense of the strength in growth that has come over the last year - evidenced in that climbing day... I just needed to comment briefly again about that...

In more exciting news!... we were woken with a call at 5 am this morning alerting us that a fire was within 15 feet of our office building at Summit and that we needed to hurry to retrieve computers and files from the building as soon as possible in case it were to go up in flames! Thankfully shortly after we arrived as I was staring bewildered at the mess of wires we were supposed to unplug to save the server!! we were told that the fire was under control and the building was safe. The fire only ended up burning about half of an acre behind the office annex, but given the dry and unkempt state of the brush back there...it could have taken off quickly! Since summer has been winding down I've recently been the only left to sleep at base, so I've instead opted to stay at Kelli and Corinna's house about 5 miles away, leaving a very deserted and vulnerable property...especially in a quiet post-Labor Day neighborhood...and not to mention severe drought. Thankfully a group of college students that are staying at base this week had arrived last night and were woken by the frightening crackling sounds of the flames beginning to overtake the trees! It's hard to imagine what may have become of the place had they not been there...

So, after we were relieved to learn that the buildings were safe we watched the four local fire crews put out the last smoldering patches of orange as the dawn slowly began to shed light on the eerie gray ashes and blackened trees. It was a surreal sight indeed. What started the fire? We may never know. There are a handful of possible causes of course, but apparently 'no probable cause' according to the investigator...a far too vague and unsatisfying conclusion for the curious little corners of my mind that want to know how...or who...?