fire!

Yes, it’s that time of year again.

Hearing a helicopter directly overhead, I assumed it was the ultralite that comes round taking aerial photos. Seeing the shadow of the blades cross the vine, I realised it had to be something rather bigger and went outside to see what was happening.

It’s not surprising that there’s a danger of fire with skies this blue, but since the holidays don’t officially start till tomorrow, it’s a bit worrying.

Things are quiet again now, after several hours of two helicopters going back and forth every five minutes to get water from the local pantano, and I’m back on line after being without electricity for a couple of hours.

This is the closest the local fires have been since we’ve lived here. In true Spanish fashion, I went down to the local bar to find out what was going on and sat it out there.

No one seemed remotely worried – though annoyed at the thought that without electricity the beer was getting warm – so perhaps it was a bit of an over-reaction that I’d made sure my passport and a couple of other irreplaceable items were just inside the door ready to grab if we got evacuated. Even so, I’m glad we have a river nearby, and a reservoir, too, and I’m glad someone noticed the fire before it got too big to control.