The extent of the fire damage was much easier to see in the daylight, as you might imagine. And I have a new theory… I think the reason we saw a whole bunch of little fires is that the fire department had attacked the one base, spreading fire from different points and had put much of it out before we actually got there.

The first photo is of the walnut grove. The burned area is obviously the black area, which extends up the hill behind the grove, which is the bank supporting the main road. You can also see where the lower branches of the walnut trees got singed as well. The second photo is the hillside to the right of the grove. Most of the hillside there got burned – used to be covered with dry golden grass among sage plants – now all you can see are the random sage (and trees of course, luckily no trees caught) plants on the sooty ground.

It doesn’t smell as strongly or badly as you imagine something like that should. Maybe it’s the dryness of it all – odor carries better with humidity.

All the neighbors were stopping by yesterday – keeping an eye out for any flare-ups. The Fire Marshall also dropped by to inspect the site. I don’t suppose they’ll ever really find out what started it, but you never know, eh?