Why we have fire sprinklers

One of the odd things about building a house in Park City is that you have to include fire sprinklers. Not just a fire extinguisher. You have to have the serious, commercial fire sprinklers you are probably used to seeing in a public building. Why? Because it is dry and windy, and we have a lot of scrubby, half dead trees.

This past week, we were reminded why. Along a trail about a half mile from our house, a fire started. Kids? A cigarette? Who knows? The fire spread and it was on a steep hill with a lot of scrub, so the fire fighters were having a hard time getting water to where it was burning.

The fire grew to about 15 acres and came within about 100 yards of a house. As the ground forces were getting the fire under control, a helicopter with a water bucket joined the fight and knocked the fire out. Here is the result.


It hurts me not to have been taking tons of pictures while all this was going on, but here is one from the Park Record. I was about 10 miles outside of Park City at a Friends of Animals meeting. Between the local radio station and neighbors, we kept up to date with any call for evacuation.



This definitely gives you a little wake up call. We definitely live in fire country and even though we have five fire stations within five miles of our house, that doesn't mean we are safe. Always helps to have a plan on what you would do if you had to evacuate.

If you want to see some more pictures, go here. They normally leave them up for a few weeks.