Gulf State Park Wildfires

As we were heading down to the beach for a little visit with my parents this week, I kept hearing reports about a wildfire at Gulf States Park in Gulf Shores. I’ve seen enough news reports about fires in California and Arizona in recent years to know how much damage uncontrolled wildfires can cause! Things didn’t sound good. As we pulled into Orange Beach, there was a thick cloud of smoke and the smell was terrible. Smoke was so dense on Canal Road near The Wharf that there were warning signs out and fire engines everywhere. That night we took photos from the end of my parents’ pier. You can clearly see the thick band of smoke in the sky.

The next day things were looking better. The smoke was clearing, although there was still a faint smell in the air. The fires were reportedly more controlled. We didn’t spot any fire engines. The view that night from the same spot looked much more normal.

However, tonight as we were driving to dinner we saw billows of smoke in the sky. They were HUGE and looked like giant puffy clouds, yet you could clearly distinguish between the clouds and the smoke. My dad said the fires were blazing again. It’s hard to believe how many acres this fire has burned in the state park.

Thankfully, as we headed home from dinner, the rains came. And I mean they came in torrents. It rained really hard for at least thirty minutes, and the steady rain continued after that. Hopefully that will put an end to the fires before they destroy much more. I hate to see so much of our beautiful state park torched!