Sherman attacks Esparto?

Coming home today I saw a huge plume of billowing smoke coming from the town of Esparto. At one point I could see the tips of the flames licking the pink tones of the sun setting sky. The flames must be reaching sixty to eighty feet because the tree tops of town are that high. I felt like Scarlet O' Hara watching Atlanta burn, except my home was not in danger and I don't look good in a corset and bustle.

Hmm, the smoke was gray and not black, a tell tale sign of a structure fire, so I came home and grabbed the camera to see what was going on. As I was driving, I thought it must be either a haystack fire or a dry grass fire on the north side of Esparto. It was grass fire, although it did burn right up to the edge of town.




The fire department was on scene and seemed to have things well in hand. Half the town was walking down the streets to see what the commotion was all about, the other half couldn't have been far behind, we don't have much entertainment here in Esparto so anything that even seems the least bit exiting is a well attended event.



It almost looked like a control burn, I saw a firefighter tossing a lit road flare into an area that was burning, so it may have been a little offensive/defensive type of drill. You can't burn what is already blackened right?

So Esparto is still standing, at least the part that hasn't fallen down yet, and the locals were treated to a evening of flashing lights and the smell of dry grass meeting its demise. I wonder if the Cache Creek Casino patrons even noticed as they sped past on the way to part with their money?