Evacuating the Gray Fire

On Friday afternoon, Aug. 18, spirits were high. I’d just finished up work for the day, and I was planning to grill up some brats and baked beans for an enjoyable BBQ summer dinner. The summer weekends were running out, and we wanted to make them count.

Little did we know, that naïve plan was about to go out the window.

After resurfacing from my home office on the north side of Medical Lake, I noticed a massive plume of smoke emitting from the south. I instantly knew it was a wildfire, and my first instinct was to be concerned for the farmers in that area whose wheat crop was likely burning or...