My View From the Woods

We may not know for awhile the extent to which wild-land fires have affected business, including real estate, in the Panhandle. It’s been a long and dangerous season for anyone who lives here. For a few, the horror of a burned out house or property is as real as someone dying. For most of us, it’s a background worry and a topic of interest in the news.

I live by choice in a rural setting in North Idaho. My wife and I love this lifestyle. When it comes down to it, considering the quiet and lack of crowds, the light traffic on rural roads and the pace of life, we are in no more danger than someone living in a crowded metropolitan area. We have plenty of water. The air is normally better than most places on earth.

Right now, as evident in the photo, we have daily air quality reports, and sometimes they are not so great. As to whether we’ll have a serious blow where a major fire such as a couple of those in Washington state just take off in a wind, well, history will soon tell. I was a ticket-taker at Indian Creek State Park on Priest Lake in 1967, when about this same time of year, the Sundance Fire erupted when they thought they had a small burn put out. In 24 hours it blew across the Selkirk Mountains all the way to the Canadian Border west of Bonners Ferry.

Like the three firefighters in Washington, two men, trapped with their heavy equipment, died in the Sundance.

Still, would I live anywhere else? No. Like most of the rural people I know (and I know a lot of them!), I live here by choice. This is North Idaho. It is and will continue to be a great place to live. When a fires go through, there is recovery. People pick up and go on. The undergrowth and the trees and even the wildlife comes back. Idaho will always be a place of choice for those who love the outdoors, who need the woods for the quiet moments and the beauty.

If you’d like a free Real Estate Market Report, write to me anytime at dparsons@21goldchoice.com. I’d be glad to send it to you.

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