Idaho is on fire. Fire season always comes to the West, and some years are worse than others. The combination of years of serious drought plus extreme and prolonged heat set the Western States up for an explosive fire season. NIFC reports over 199 fires are burning, scorching over 2 million acres of creation. The number is too big to grasp.
One evening last week while I drove south on Meridian Road, I looked to my left and saw white fluffy clouds hovering above the Boise foothills, and I look to my right and saw the smoke moving in from the Soda Fire. Then lightening started fire after fire, all around the Northwest. The air smells like a campfire; it permeates everything. The Soda Fire alone is responsible for 287,000 acres of scorched earth! The lose of wildlife, livestock and habitat is impossible to comprehend. At the beginning you could see the fire coming over the Owyhees - fire and smoke. But you can no longer see the Owyhees, nor can you see the Boise foothills. All you can see is smoke.
How God's heart must break as creation burns...
But as fire and smoke poured over the Owyhees, a smaller fire started in the Boise foothills. A stray spark ignited a wildfire that could have quickly resulted in a loss of human life and property - people love to live in the foothills even with the fire danger. Quick work by fire crews and neighbors was partly credited with keeping the fire from engulfing those homes. In some cases, the fire came right up to the driveways and stopped. What was the other reason credited with saving those homes?
Defensible Space.
People who live in areas susceptible to fire know that one of the best ways to survive a wildfire is to remove fuel from around their home. Conscientious homeowners regularly work at keeping a defensible perimeter around their homes by removing everything that could be fuel for a wildfire, creating fire breaks with stone or concrete, and by planting fire resistant vegetation. This isn't the kind of work that can be successfully undertaken when the fire is sweeping over the ridge and heading for your house; it must be done long before the fire arrives. Last week, those defensible perimeters saved many homes in the foothills. Sadly, there are times when the fire is so intense that no amount of preparation can prevent a burn out. But sometimes that hard work helps to stop the fire from burning the house to the ground.
I think this strategy of defensible space is one that can be applied to more than saving houses. All of us, from time to time, experience wildfires in our personal life. Often they are unexpected and come upon us with no warning. But sometimes, we see the signs and can tell that we have entered our own fire season - and one stray lightening strike could set our life aflame. It makes sense to create defensible space in our life so that, when the fire does come, we have removed as much fuel - as much flammable material - as possible, and created those important fire breaks and areas of green, fire resistant vegetation.
For each of us, what constitutes dry brush and accumulated fuel will vary. But if we take the time to step back and walk the perimeter of our life, we can quickly get a sense of where some clean up is needed. The strategy of waiting to remove the fuel until we see the fire heading our way does not work. The hard work of removing the fuel needs to be done regularly, with consistency - and before the fire comes. And along with removing the fuel, we can surround ourselves with things that are green and fresh that resist burning - things that give and protect life.
The fires come. I wish they didn't, but they do. They come to the land, and they come to our lives. May we learn to tend to our inner habitat before the fires come, and remove all the brush and dry, unnecessary fuel. May we get our perimeter and inner landscape as green, fresh, and vibrant as possible. Then when the fires do come, we stand the best chance of withstanding the flames.
As I walk my inner landscape, I will do my best to pull all that inner cheatgrass. Maybe I will plant some lilacs, yarrow and columbine, to bring both beauty and fire resistance to my perimeter. Keeping that inner cheatgrass under control will require consistent and persistent self care; but that appears to be the best way to maintain a defensible perimeter.
Tending my inner landscape,
Kim
