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Pleased that you are safe, Pigale. My cousin is safe, but very nervous. She has been a permanent resident for 20 yrs. In 2003 the fires reached Cavalaire and she was evactuated then. One of her friends died and also one of the "pompiers" and she still has sleepless nights whenever the fires arrive in the area.

Hello Rusty,

Sorry, I have only just seen your reply to my post;

Yes, I am quite a way away from them - France is a big country
and I live just North of Centre.
It has been extremely dry down South (and here too really, in comparison to other years), so this, combined with heat and dry
vegetation, and now strong wind, gives you these terrible fires.

It only takes a spark to start a fire, with such dry vegetation, such as the sparks you sometimes see on railway lines when a train comes by; or a cigarette bud not put off properly, or a piece of glass in direct sun, or just extreme heat on bone dry vegetation.

I have seldom seen it quite that bad though; dreadful for the
people in the area, and for the area itself!

That is quite understable Jazzy - I think I would have moved, not
leaving the South of France, but to a less endangered area.

No one can persuade her to move, Pigale. She loves living there and she has a large circle of friends (including many English ) I would not have been so brave as to remain living there ! The fire reached La Croix Valmer yesterday, which is the next village to hers.

Hello, Elle!
The last I heard was that Russian and American "experts" were disagreeing on the results on the bodies.
They were not sure if the female was Maria or her younger sister Grand Duchess Anastasia.
They were to be buried with the rest of the family though, but I do not know if that has happened.
What did happen though, was that the Russian Orthodox Church elevated the murdered royal family to the status of "passion bearers" which is the equivalent of "sainthood".
Excuse my irreverence but a "passion bearer" sounds to me like a lovesick teenager! Like "carrying a crush!"
I will try and find out more at tonight's "evening classes" on YouTube.
I have not looked at my paper or the crossword yet.
Occasionally an error appears and Mr Rogan's job as crossword editor is to prevent this happening!
But con(vict) is a prisoner, "can" is the prison.
With what you say, Elle, it appears there is an error?


Hello, Pigale!
Glad to hear you are well away from the fires.
Must be a terrifying experience for those in the vicinity.
I had a book once about the "smokejumpers" in Montana, and the dreadful fires they were parachuted into, to try and stop them.
Very, very, brave folk.
They made a film about one fire called "Red Skies of Montana".
Richard Widmark starred in it.
It was based on the "Mann Gulch" fire, way back in the Forties, I think.
Most of the smokejumpers were killed, unfortunately.

Yes, I have heard of Red Skies of Montana - I remember my husband
mentioning it and in fact, I believe he actually saw the film.
The Mann Gulch fire was in 1949 (according to google).

Hello, Pigale!
I saw the film many years ago.
I liked Richard Widmark.
I can not find my book about the smokejumpers but I believe at one time there was a smokejump crew made up of inmates from a local prison which was used, too.
There is actually a bit on Wikipedia about the Mann Gulch fire.
Amazing the info that is out there!

That smokejump crew reminds me of The Dirty Dozen!

Good evening, Rusty!
We are only just home from our daughter's..... !
We did a few jobs whilst there.......and the cat also demanded a lot of attention!
A bit dreich out now.
You are far more up-to-date with the DNA testing of Prince Philip than I ...
I didn't think that the testing had even been carried out.......
And I have never heard of "passion bearer" status!
It will be interesting if you can find out more about the DNA results.
I have been reading what you have been discussing about smoke -jumping.
I have read a fictional book entitled "The Smoke Jumper" by Nicholas Evans.
(He who wrote " The Horse Whisperer")
Do you know this book?
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was not totally about the smoke jumping, as there were other aspects to the book, but that was the main theme.
I think it was supposed to be an accurate account of how the fires were fought?
Well, we are hungry...so I suppose I had best think about something for us to eat...!

Hello, Elle!
Great afternoon here!
You are doing well by your daughter!
I do not know "The Smoke Jumper", but I have heard of "The Horse Whisperer".
Yes, there are different techniques in fighting these fires, including burning the trees etc that are in the path of the fire, hoping there will be nothing to burn when the fire gets there and it does not "jump" across the gap!
i remembered the book I had.
It was called "Young Men and Fire", by Norman Maclean.
It is mainly about the Mann Gulch fire which the author actually saw.
He went back many years later to try and find out actually what went wrong. Why did the smokejumpers die?
It is excellent!
And....! I discovered that Norman's son has written a book about another fire tragedy.
"Fire on the Mountain", about the South Canyon fire in Colorado.
"Hotshots", "smokejumpers" and helicopter crew died in that one.
Men and women.
I have ordered it.
Russia has many smokejumping crews, too.
I had two farm eggs for my tea!