San Juans Day 5: Close Call on Jones Island...

So we had JUST settled in to our favorite campsite on Jones Island, on a gorgeous rock bluff with it's own private beach, surrounded by Madrona trees...ahhhh. The next morning, Vern and I were visiting with Ranger David Halpern, who comes once a day to collect fees. A visibly panicked elderly woman named Vivienne Hull, runs up to the three of us and yells "My husband Fritz spotted fire and smoke on the west side!" Thus began a couple tense hours...until the big boats from San Jun Island and the official fire fighters finally arrived to douse the 200 or so square foot burn. The fire had probably been smoldering all night after some idiot campers thought they would make a nice little fire out of sight of the trail during a BURN BAN. They probably also camped there, saving the whopping $12 reservation fee per night...go figure. The fire was VERY close to reaching some major fuel sources of trees and pine branches, and at first glance the ranger said we needed to evacuate the island. Selfishly, I am thinking: Oh no! We are planning to be there for the next six days! He then told Vern and I that by law, since we were not trained, he needed to tell us to leave the site. We both looked at him like he was crazy, and he said, Well, OK. He pointed at me and said you watch the fire and tamp out the little burns while Vern and I run get all the tools - will take us 10 minutes. Yikes. Then he made me promise to run if it starts going up a tree. I promised. Longest 10 min of my life and all I had was a big stick -ha! So I am watching these huge glowing embers in the roots of a big pine tree - much like a ticking bomb - and every time I tamp something, new little flames appear. So I'm feeling pretty helpless, practically holding my breath, pulling away anything in the way of the flames, and praying the wind does not pick up. I keep my eye on this particular flame and, like a horror movie, it finally starts creeping up a tree. I start yelling "It's going up a treeeeeeee!!!" Then, like two heros, Vern and the ranger appear with lots of tools :) The ranger wacks the flames off the tree with an axe, then we find dirt and throw shovelfuls over the flames until four fire-fighters arrived with water and backpacks. After another hour, two boats arrived from a nearby island with hoses and the area was drenched. So, thanks to Vivienne and Fritz Hull, who smelled smoke and sought it out, the fire did not consume the precious 180 acre Marine Reserve called Jones Island. Over the next six days, Vern and I walked around the island to visit the site each day, making sure no smoke remained, and watched the sunsets from that very point. Phew! SIDE NOTE: I fixed the kayak video from yesterday's blog so it now moves :)