While July was the driest on record in the interior of Alaska, making for a bad fire season with just short of 3 million acres burned, August has been wet, and the forecast is for lots more rain. The rain has slowed down the fires, and many of them are now no longer staffed. There will be smoke for some time, as fires smolder. Meanwhile autumn colors have started around us, we've had heavy frost already, and it's now getting dark at night.