Before this area got some rain in May, Kelly and I had quite a window seat to watch a forest fire happening across Lake Chapala from us, on the beautiful and inactive volcano called Mt. Garcia. It went on for well over a week. The local press reported that not only was the terrain difficult and steep but the area is also known for having a lot of rattlesnakes. I don’t know if the fire was fought officially at all, actually. Kelly considered taking photos at night but it would have just looked like a line of dim red dots, so he didn’t.

The dry season usually ends sometime in mid-June, and the rainy season kicks into gear.. this area gets around 34 inches of rain a year, most of it between June and October.

In the weeks before the rains, farmers burn off their corn fields in preparation for the new crop. Mexicans are astonishingly casual about fire in general, so it is no surprise that some of the corn field fires get away from the farmers. Sometimes lightning strikes start fires as well.

My eyes and nose were inflamed for much of May from smoke, probably not from these fires you see but more likely from the various smaller ones on our side of the lake, some in the mountains not far from us.

Mexico does not have a huge amount of financial resources to fight fires like these, but on the other hand, this country has not had the suppression policies that have been prevalent in the US for decades. Also, anywhere near towns, people have picked up dead wood for firewood. So it’s apples and oranges to compare the situations in the two countries.

We’re always glad when the rains start. I think it was the day after our first good rain here, in May, that we saw no more smoke from Mt. Garcia.

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