Real life happens to us all. It usually sneaks up on us as we are going about our everyday activities, and sometimes it clobbers us over the head with reality. The date of my last post was such a day...ordinary enough at the onset.
Mid-day we got a call from a friend asking us if we saw the fire that looked to be just up the street from us. We had just a few moments before seen the cloud of smoke and were trying to see where exactly it was. Not to long after, our friend was at our door. Her employer who lived a short distance away had just been evacuated along with his neighborhood.
We watched as the fire trucks raced up to the end of our street then more cars,various vehicles, news vans etc. Originally it looked as if the fire was going to be contained quickly...we had our hopes high...as high as the forest service has rated this fire season. As the cloud of smoke became larger, helicoptors began circling in the air and we could now hear the roar of the fire and see the flames shooting up high into the air...it was dubbed the
Quail Fire and our attentive ears were on the local news. Later that evening as neighbors gathered up and down the street a police woman pulled up and knocked at my neighbor on the corners door...I remember saying uh-oh that can't be good. She backed down thier drive and next it was us...this was a warning of possible evacuation...a standby. We went inside and began identifying those things we could not replace...boxes of family pictures, important documents, personal items, and as we did we began making calls to family. An automated call came, notice to evacuate and we began loading our cars. About 1/2 hour later another call came and we continued the process of loading what possibly would be all that was left of our personal belongings. It was dark as we headed down the street, the fire glowing on the mountain.
There were many vehicles and people up and down the street heading out of the subdivision, some taking pictures, some asking questions. My nephew had left with his sister a bit before us...he aproached our car to give us news. At this point we were not on a mandatory evacuation and so we had the option to go back home until a more serious threat might emerge.
It was hard going to bed that night...our clothes, shoes and car keys were in a pile close by our bedroom door which remained open that night. The home phone was in our room and volume was turned up too. In the morning the fire was clearly visible flames...smoke billowing everywhere.
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July 4th 2012 6:50AM
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One neighbor that was evacuated shared his story o the local news...
it was amazing to see what the fire damage was and where the fire stopped.
The days have gone on and with the passing of several we finally took the boxes out of the vehicles, clothes, food and key daily items are back in thier normal places. The many family pictures are still in boxes close to the door but I am getting closer to unpacking them. My heart falls every time I look out over the mountain but I am so grateful to God for the rain that has helped get the fire under control as well as the amazing firefighters who have fought tirelessly to protect us, our homes, and as much of the land as possible.
Even now I hear the helicoptors circling, the firefighters are working toward containment and we are following the news in hopes that it is put out soon.
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| The brown you see on the mountain is the the Quail Fire damage visible from my front window.Check out more pics on my Instagram channel, myartistry. |
