Fire fighting

We spent a lot of the day hauling firewood up from the garden, where it had been drying, ready for burning in the winter.  Then we smelt smoke (was our wood alight already?) and realised that the fire that had burned down in the valley last week had re-ignited, but much much more strongly this time.  The pompiers (the fire service) were very quick off the mark, but it was clear from the outset that this was not a fire that could be got under control  by fire crews working on the ground.  The fire was spreading quickly, the smoke was rising, swirling and darkening.  The wind was strong and gusting (and blowing our way!).   And so the planes came in, two at first, then three, then four and then six, flying in formation, swooping down low over the village to drop into the valley and empty their cargo of water onto the flames.  When we first saw how big the fire was we packed an emergency bag, ready in case we had to evacuate.  Thankfully that never happened.  Two things worthy of note. Those pilots are simply magnificent; low level manoeuvring, fighting the surge caused by updrafts and countering the sudden weight loss of dropping their cargo of water, all the whilst flying into smoke and fire - all my hats go off to them - heroic.  Now the negative; sightseers turned up in droves (well in dozens certainly).  They must have heard the alerts on SW radio.  They parked all over the place, mostly outside our house, blocking our entrance to the barn and also the driveway.  They hampered the movement of fire tenders and generally made a nuisance of themselves.  Sometimes I wish I was the incredible hulk, I would have chased them off like only a big green giant could!  The planes eventually did their job and dampened things enough for the fire crews to start work on the ground (see extra pic).  In fact I have used a few of my extras quota today to show more of the action.