George and Dave have been working hard to get their businesses back home in
line so they can take off on Monday. I
asked George if he was aware of all the fires in Alaska and I saw that little
boy surprise look that is thinking, but is saying on the inside: “I got
nothing.” I think his mouth was open. I filled him in and he immediately called his
other wife, Dave. The guys have a system
that works for them and Dave is the designated contact person for Alaska. This way they don’t double call. Dave called the forestry division and the
lady was so glad to hear from him. She
told him they were going to have to evacuate the guys because they didn’t have
enough man power or equipment to protect their site like they did several years
ago. Dave informed her that they weren’t
there yet and he heard a sigh of relief on the other end. The Alaska Forestry division has a priority
list for wild-land fires and it’s based on threats to life, primary residences,
buildings, infrastructure, cultural and natural resource value and Native
allotments. They compile a list each day
based on the fire activity. I know
George and Dave are proud of their tin can condo, but it didn’t make the
list. So we will wait and see what lies
in their future. There is no way in to
their site except to fly in. They have
no river large enough to river boat in and it is 60 miles in over the rivers
and rough terrain. Sooo…. They have a
plan B. They will go into the mountains of Takotna and
gold mine and just come down every night and stay in what they call “The Mush
House.” It’s where the mushers stay
during the Iditarod.
This is a picture 30 miles NW of their gold mining site.
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