Pray for rain, not wind

Pray for rain without wind or lightning. Pray for rain that will land on top of Pine, Featherville and Atlanta.

And pray for the firemen. These guys are good. They know what they're doing, but the "enemy" is unpredictable right now due to the erratic nature of the weather in the mountains.

They may very well save the core of Featherville. They saved almost all of Rocky Bar, even when the fire rolled over it, by clearing out debris, soaking the buildings with sprinklers, building firebreaks and setting backfires. What they did for that historic ghost town they hope to do on a larger scale for Featherville. They've been working for a week to get ready.

But if the fire changes direction suddenly, or explodes again in an unexpected area, all the planning and work might become worthless in a matter of hours. In the 36 hours between writing this and you reading it conditions may have changed dramatically.

It's tough to predict a forest fire. But they are very dangerous.

The fire crews, the law enforcement personnel, the emergency service crews, the National Guardsmen in the mountains, as well as those residents who still remain up there, are all at risk.

Pray for them all.

And pray for rain.

-- Kelly Everitt