I saw a friend (who happens to be going to Bend in a couple weeks), and he told me about the fires in the area. He said Ale Apothecary had to evacuate. Does anyone have an update, beer-wise, the Bend area is doing?
From the AA FB page: The USFS gave Staci and I an escort up the hill for 20 minutes to fill our copper full of water (just in case...thank you James Davies). No smoke and brewery looking good. Also, they told us we should 'sleep easy'. Hopefully they have good data and aren't just in the business of consolation! Cheers to all the hard working firefighters. This is crazy shit. From local tv, twitter, etc. I believe the easternmost side of the fire (closest to Bend and AA) has been contained and the growth in acres is coming on the south and west sides of the fire, so the risk is reduced significantly.
Fairly surreal experience to report. I was privileged enough to visit Ale Apothecary on Saturday and Paul was a great host. We left the property around 12:15 and the fire must have started within 20-30 minutes of that point. Later that afternoon, while enjoying a pint at the Crow Commons, you could see the smoke starting to intensify to the west. As sundown approached, a dark black/red cloud had engulfed much of the city. It made for some lovely, but unfortunate, photography. On Sunday it was mostly just hazy and it sounds like things are slowly getting back under control.
I'll be down there at the end of the month for Crux's anniversary party. Curious what the area will look like by then...
Fire is 25% contained, and crews are making great progress. With cooler weather approaching, this thing should be licked by the end of the week.
Paul made the same joke on FB, so I think it's ok. Laughing to keep from crying is a time honored coping mechanism.
Unless you head specifically towards the fire zone, you're unlikely to notice anything different. The closest it got was still a few miles from the westernmost limits of Bend.
I appreciate the updates. A friend from work has a son who is going up for a job training at Sun River Brewing today, and I know she was concerned about the fire (he's driving up on 97, and so will apparently be OK).
I was in Bend on Tuesday and you couldn't even hardly see smoke anymore. Monday evening there was still a good haze.
Last note I heard here was that it's 55% contained. It's overcast and cool today. A bit breezy but also trying to drizzle/rain so that should help.
90% contained. Last of the evacuation notices lifted. No structures damaged. They'll have it knocked down by the end of the weekend. Ale Apoth has is safe.
