We just returned from a five day vacation to Portland and the coast late last night. While I'd intended to blog about our wonderful trip, I just can't do that right now.

We left town last Tues morning. On Monday night four lightning strikes set up several fires that have since burned over 67,000 acres and are only 20% contained. The fires are outside of Dayton where many of my friends live. My close friend has been very close to the distress. While their home is safe, her parents have lost much land and two cabins (including the one we use for our annual church campout), one cousin lost his historical home and another is, as I type this, fighting to save his home on the mountain. Fire trucks have been evacuated and he is staying there alone, trying to save the house. With extremely limited cell access it's unlikely we'll hear anything from him tonight. His girlfriend has been staying with my friend (yes, this is the "farm friend" I referred to in my last post) for the last several days. I feel terrible for her as she waits to hear that he is OK.

My friend's husband has cattle up in the mountains that he has not been allowed to bring down. He was able to sneak in and check on them yesterday (many were still alive). He'd been promised an escort in to retrieve them tomorrow, but winds have picked up, another mountain is up in flames, and it's unlikely the cattle will be a priority.

While the Red Cross has been amazing, and there are many heartwarming stories of farmers banding together to save one another's homesteads, things are very hard. It has been over a week now, of tense waiting. I offered to take my friend's children today simply because the stress of the situation is wearing on everyone and they need a bit of space from the situation. Sadly, there's little else anyone can do.

The financial effect on the ranchers who have lost crops, expensive fencing, pasture and cattle is tremendous. My in-laws live in Starbuck and helped a farmer there save his place, but many others haven't fared as well.

You can find a recent article on the fire here http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/8134271p-8026700c.html  I live in Waitsburg, ten miles from Dayton. The air is thick with smoke and the firefighters have set up camp at our fairgrounds. Driving through Dayton/Waitsburg and seeing all the signs thanking the 880+ firefighters working to help us made me teary-eyed this afternoon.

Please keep Dayton, WA and those living in surrounding areas in your prayers.