Sunset

Now there is a fire burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, northeast of downtown Boulder Creek, maybe 20 miles from here. The Bear Fire is tiny compared to the disastrous fires up north, but frightening nevertheless. The air has been gray and thick all day, occasionally smelling of smoke. It's the old refrain: the fire is burning in a steep area that is barely accessible, lots of dry underbrush for kindling, and scores of stressed trees for fuel. There have been evacuations and injuries, buildings destroyed. The good news is that there is not much wind, and a little rain is forecast for the end of the week.