The Town of Castle Valley is again accepting applications for the annual scholarship to be awarded to qualifying high school seniors. An anonymous donor provides the generous scholarship each year. The gift of $2,000 is made available to Castle Valley residents who graduated this year from high school and who submit a letter of interest to the town clerk by Thursday, Aug. 12.

The graduates’ letters must be accompanied by proof of acceptance to an accredited institute of higher learning and show actual proof of registration in the program of your choice, according to the town notice. The town council at the Aug. 18 regular council meeting at 6:30 p.m. will award the scholarships. The town clerk will be happy to answer any questions. She can be reached by calling 259-9828.

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And speaking of the town clerk, Denise Lucas will be off for a week of training next week. As a result, the town hall will be closed the week of July 26 and will re-open at 9am Monday, Aug. 2.

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Several calls to the Grand County Sheriff’s office Tuesday morning reported seeing smoke in the Fisher Towers area off State Road 128. County Fire Warden Zack Farmer and others from the State Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands responded to the scene.

They entered the area by way of the Onion Creek Road, which appeared to be the closest access to the smoke. The smoke seemed to be high on a rim and was dissipating as he got closer. When he got close enough to determine the source of the smoke, it was discovered that it wasn’t smoke at all but was actually heavy dust caused by a large rock slide when a slab of rock dislodged from the rim.

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The Castle Valley Fire Department is on high alert these days as the season of afternoon thunder and lightning storms approaches. During their training meeting last Tuesday, the skies clouded up and a light rain began falling along with thunder and lightning off in the distance. The members were practicing laying a “wet line” along a road to create a firebreak to stop an approaching fire, something that could become a useful tactic in the event of a fire here.

The relief from the scorching sun was a welcome reprieve, but the lightning, low humidity and strong winds are a recipe for a dangerous fire. During this time of year, when the weather turns threatening, members of the fire department will don their protective clothing and standby at one of the fire stations ready to respond to a fire call and save valuable minutes.

This week in 1987, this column reported on a grass fire on Shafer Lane that was started by a Castle Valley hot air balloonist as he was trying to raise the balloon. The heat and flames required to fill the balloon ignited the dry grass and quickly spread. The balloon, valued at $15,000, was destroyed in the blaze and the fire charred about two acres of grass before being extinguished by the fire department.

Fire department members that week also received an eight-hour course on fighting wildfires. Personnel from the State Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands presented the course over a two-day period. The course included slides and film on firefighting techniques and the use of a simulator.

The simulator used audio and visual devises to simulate an actual fire and fire personnel directed engines and equipment to halt the advancing flames.