Forest Fire

Mother’s Day was different this year. We went to the city and got a few things including a patio table and chairs, we headed home to hear that our community is on evacuation alert due to the fire not far from us.

The smoke wasn’t too bad when we drove into our community but the high winds did a number on the fire. After unloading the vehicle, we headed out to see the fire from across the river.

It wasn’t pretty and just before we left, there was a huge flare up.

On the way back into town, we got another view of the fire. We were in a hurry as we had to head out to help people evacuate.

The fire was moving towards the highway and people could be caught behind the fire. We checked in to see if a friend needed help but all looked okay for him. He had 100 horses behind irrigation and lush green fields.

We headed out to another area to help two ladies pack up their belongings. The house they live in is near lots of trees as were a few other places on that road. They were on evacuation alert when we arrived at 5 p.m. Everything of importance was either packed or ready to go. Their game plan was good and they were evacuated at 11 p.m. along with campers and other families. Not sure if the fire will head to their home, but the fear was the road being blocked by fire.

The sad part of this; the fire was started by people burning grass along the river so the wild asparagus would grow better. It wasn’t totally put out by firefighters and then it flared again causing this horrific forest fire.

FYI, we have lived through a forest fire scare in the mid 90’s. It was on the ranch we managed in this area. The fire was very close and the employees were out helping fight the fire and moving cattle to safer ground. We were packed up ready to leave and I had to orchestrate the moving, feeding some crew members, and being the command post. It was scary which is why we jumped in to help people yesterday.

Today is literacy day, meetings and hopes of getting a wee bit of sewing done.

Until tomorrow…………….