It Was Definitely Not A Restful Sabbath Evening

Yesterday afternoon during our visit from the home teachers, the light in the house all of a sudden turned orange. After a minute it became bright and sunshiny again. This occurred repeatedly over the half hour visit and as the home teachers were leaving, we went outside and saw huge plumes of smoke billowing front the mountain range behind our house. As the plume wafted in from of the sun, the light filtering through turned orange. Since there was obviously a fire somewhere, Kev arranged to get info from one of our home teachers as needed and we headed off to my parents' house for Sunday dinner.

At about six o'clock we heard that homes were beginning to be evacuated, so we headed home to prepare. The boys were pretty concerned (Okay, I'll be honest. I was pretty concerned.) so as soon as we arrived home from my parents’ house, we had a family prayer to calm the boys and then they got their backpacks and packed some clothes and the most important blankets and stuffed animals. Daniel and Nathan put shoes and socks back on with their pajamas so they would be ready if we needed to leave. Then we stood at the back door and watched the fire . . . and took pictures of course. I mean, a huge raging wildfire happening in your backyard is a once in a lifetime experience . . . unless you're really lucky like me and get to repeat a childhood trauma as an adult.

7:15 p.m.-We can see the glow and the smoke coming from behind the second ridge.

The fire was obviously growing and as the sun began to set, the size of the fire became more readily apparent. We could hear the helicopters flying overhead and Kev was listening in on his ham radio to try to stay abreast of the latest developments.

7:55 p.m.

Matthew was pretty nervous until we saw the flames crest the top of the ridge. Then he got downright panicky. “I’m scared of that real fire!” Me to, kid. Me to.

8:15 p.m.-The first flames are visible as they crest the second ridge.

It was a whole lot of not funny how fast the flames were moving. Within just a few minutes the whole side of the mountain was on fire.

8:30 p.m.

After the quick exit I had to make with the kids when there was a gas leak a few years ago, I got a few things organized so that we could grab the most important things quickly if we needed to leave in a hurry. Kev and I streamlined that even more, making a list of the key items and where to find them in case of a fast leave taking. Once we had the necessary items gathered and in the cars, I wandered around the house collecting a few irreplaceable things. We had time and we had space in the car so I figured I might as well grab the nonessential but sure to be sorely missed items that we could not replace. And I have to admit that as I walked around, I found myself thinking that most of what we own is just stuff. The few irreplaceable things I had gathered were an extremely small percentage of what actually fills our house. On the upside, moments like these are when having a tote bag fetish comes in handy!

After about nine p.m. we could no longer see the flames from our back porch which might sound like a good thing but was in fact the exact opposite since it meant that the flames were too low on the mountain to be visible. Kev took to the streets to check in with neighbors and to monitor the progression of the fire from yards with better viewpoints. The evacuation area spread rapidly for a time and I kept expecting to need to rouse the boys from their beds and hit the road. Several of the high points of the evening (Yes, there were a few!) were having unexpected people call to make sure we were okay and offer help and the large numbers of neighbors that were wandering the streets making sure everyone was ready to go. It is nice to know that those that live closest to us are watching out for everyone.

The boys were wide awake and quaking in their beds for hours. I finally had Nathan climb in with Matthew and by about eleven thirty, all three had fallen asleep due to sheer exhaustion and with many assurances that everything would be alright and if we had to leave Kev and I would never leave without them.

As I was finally going to bed to try to sleep, the fire crested the ridge closest to our house and began to burn downward. Kev opted to withhold this info from me until this morning knowing that if I knew there would be no sleep for this is the stuff that nightmares are made of . . . literally. What little sleep I got was peppered by dreams of smoke and flames.

12:15 a.m.

12:30 a.m.-Still moving quickly, the fire is making its way down the ridge closest to our house.

We feel very blessed this afternoon. Not only did our house not burn down, but we did not have to evacuate and the direction of the wind was such that our house doesn’t even smell like smoke. Houses just a few streets over took the brunt of the smoke and even the closest Smith's was horribly smoky smelling this morning. Although the wind fueled the fire and created a lot of the problem, it also blew most of the smoke away quickly so my two asthmatics haven't even had any problems. There have been planes and helicopters flying over our house all day as they work to extinguish what is left of the fire, but for now we are out of harm's way. In the end, the closest evacuation line was nine houses up the road from us so it was close. It was too stinkin’ close.

9:30 a.m.-Both ridges behind our house are blackened except for one small green spot that somehow managed to survive the night. The remaining spots that are still burning are just out of sight to the left.

So, how was your weekend?