英语博客：Fire to the West.（在线收听）

 　　Do you remember a few episodes ago, a podcast called Smoke to the North? We learned how to say that something is going on in  a particular direction. Well, recently, we have had very bad fires to the West which are still burning. The photo on the blog page was a late afternoon view from my back garden, unusually dark, with a beautiful but very unusual sun. That was taken a few days ago. Now the hillside is completely black, and the fire has swept up(1) to the forests and hills behind our valley. First of all, when the fire was small and confined to an area of empty, dry hillside, it seemed just interesting, and even a little exciting. You could hear the whining (2)of emergency sirens here and there, and of course, it was the main topic of conversation. But these fires have dragged on(3). For the past two mornings we have woken up to a valley full of smoke; you can't even see the hills anymore. The local school district has cancelled all outside sports and recesses, and sporting clubs have done the same(4). People we know have had to evacuate their homes, though some have decided to stay in order to wet their rooves, trees, and gardens, to prevent fire. And remember, it's not just people who have been affected. The hills around here have many different kinds of wild animals, including predators. They are on the move(5) now, trying to get away from the smoke and ash, to reach cleaner, greener areas. One of my husband's favorite hunting areas is getting heavy traffic of deer and coyotes; the bears and cougars will be following as well. The whole thing started with a lightening storm several days ago. There was fork lightening everywhere, and of course, after the summer, the surrounding hills are completely dry. A fire was bound to (6)start. Add to that our desert climate of very little to no rain, and you find us here, still in this smokey situation. The fire fighters have been working around the clock(7), and helicopters go to and fro(8) collecting water from the rivers and taking it up the mountains. Now, it's a question of sitting and waiting. There's nothing really that we can do. It is not so bad that we have to leave, but it's certainly not yet under control. I hope that in a few days we will be back to normal; I look forward to breathing clean air again.