We’ve smelled smoke and seen quite a few brush fires lately. I remember these fires in the US and they were a huge problem. Sometimes they would get out of control and cause major devastation and burn homes and other property. Here though, no one seems to get very concerned, and they seem to burn themselves out rather quickly. It’s the dry season, no rain for quite a while, lots of dry, brown grass, and lots of windy weather. That would make me very worried!
There was a fire very close to our house a couple days ago. It was in the field and up the hill where we went for this post - Climbing the Mountain. We noticed the smoke and went to see what was happening. There was one fire truck and two firemen, and they were mostly wetting down the area near the road. When I went back the next day I could see where the fire had burned much of the field and went up the hill, but it hadn’t gone much farther than where it was actively burning while we were there.
Since there was a fire and lots of smoke, it would be a shame to pass up a photo op. So, I have put together a collection to show a bit of what happened, and also to enjoy the interesting effects of the smoke and the sun.
As we left the entrance to the neighborhood, this is what we saw, smoke billowing up towards the hill.
As we went up the road, we came to the field that was burning.
There were lots of grasshoppers jumping towards us, escaping from the fire.
One of the firemen at work.
the firetruck parked nearby
The owners of the property looking on. I just noticed in this photo the neither of them is wearing shoes. When we arrived the man was doing what he could to clear the vegetation from the edge of the field with his machete.
Fires became common (photo by Joel)
Joel caught this great shot of one of the firemen.
The next day, after the fire, this is what remained in the field
The fire went up the hill, and there is quite a bit of burned area at the top as well.
The next day there was something smoldering next to the remains of this house. There was no one home in the house next door. I spoke with the neighbor across the street and told her I was worried about the pink house but she couldn’t seem to understand why I was worried. Yes, there was a fire. Yes, it is still burning now. Yes, I see the smoke. I finally got her to agree to at least watch the place and see what happens.
This tree stump by the road was also smoldering and smoking.
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About Kris
We live in David, Chiriqui Provence, Republic of Panama! This blog is about some of our experiences in our new country.
Super images, must be very scary to have to deal with that.
I would think so, but everyone seems calm and not at all upset.
Part of the reason I think that they stay calm is because the houses are concrete. If any of them are wood or have wood roofs then they probably would have been more active. Come wet season you won’t be able to tell there was even a fire there. We are much drier here and that is why there is a burning ban in the district. I know that there are people still burning their garbage on the sly though, I have a very sensitive nose!
Yes, true, we have talked about that too. If your house is concrete block with a tin roof, what is going to burn? The lawn chairs? And, I think if you let things burn you don’t get a build up of vegetation. In the US by the time something does burn, it has so much fuel from years of preventing fires that it’s an inferno. Burning is a natural cycle of renewal and everything will grow back. I’m used to everyone freaking out if there is a fire, so it’s different to see the reactions here.
It should be very dry there now, for February. In Guanacaste (CR) any fire can quickly leap into a dangerous wildfire at this time of year.)
Great photos, especially that header image!
It is very dry. We haven’t had rain in quite a while and everything is brown and crunchy. It seems dangerous to me and I’m surprised that my neighbors don’t seem worried.
Thanks! My husband took that header photo and I really like it too.