We have a managed burn going on in our neck of the woods. The latest fire info shows the closest point 2.01 miles from our cabin; according to Google Earth's measurement. That is close! Yes, we have had a wet July and August, but we were dry as tinder before that. Even now, in the last week their fire danger indicator has risen from the Low it finally dropped to after the rains, back to a Moderate. The pine needles on the ground were starting to crunch again last weekend.

This is the same FS division that had a controlled burn in 2000; the one that got away and destroyed several hundred homes and other damages to the tune of over 1$Billion. However, that was in May when it was much drier.

Search for the Pino fire. Started by lightning in the area that had been planned for the managed burn all summer. http://www.geomac.gov/index.shtml The View KML option will let a map overlay be opened in Google Earth.

I know it has to be done, but it is a tad hard on the nerves.